Hearts Beat

by mushroompone

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Profanity, DJ P0N-3, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Romance, Sex
Length: 96527

A chance encounter at a rave leads to Twilight making an unlikely friend

Twilight Sparkle is not a risk-taker. She prefers the same old books in the same old library drinking the same old tea with the same old ponies. And that's okay!
On one fateful night, however, Rainbow Dash drags Twilight out on an adventure! Her very first rave.
It turns out Twilight isn't the only one hiding in a corner at these things.

This fiction was written as part of a challenge to write a fic in 30 days: one chapter per day, 2k words per chapter (you can learn more about it here!). However, this fiction will still be undergoing edits now that the challenge has ended. It currently has many many typos and errors, as it is literally unedited and was largely typed on a cell phone with gratuitous autocorrect--no need to point this out to me, I am very aware!

The original version is being preserved in Google Docs. I'll likely be posting the links to the original docs in a blog post sometime soon!

Published 2020-04-10 17:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-05-10 02:33:36 UTC

Bath

Rainbow and I stumbled home together late enough to be considered early.

Well. Rainbow stumbled.

And not back to her home.

"I jus' dunno if I can make it, Twi," she said, her eyelids fighting to open, but never making it more than halfway. "I heard a rumor once th-- that pegasi?"

She took a long pause, and sort of half-collapsed onto my side.

"Uh-huh? Pegasi?" I prompted, giving her a hearty shove with my shoulder.

"Right, right." Rainbow nodded along. She plastered what I'm sure she thought was a very serious expression on her face. "Pegasi. I heard that pegasi-- that their magic, right? It gets… bad. With alcohol."

"Does it now?" I gave Rainbow another push down the dirt road.

Strange how we had traded jobs; now it was I gently prodding Rainbow Dash in the right direction while she tripped over her own hooves.

"It does, it does!" Rainbow insisted. "I swear! And if-- i-if it's bad enough? They can fall through the clouds and splat!" She pounded the ground with her front hooves, as if crushing a bug. "Just like that. Dead on the ground. Isn't that crazy?"

I chuckled. "You have no idea," I murmured. "No need to worry, Dashie-- you're sleeping over tonight."

Rainbow stopped walking to grin at me. It was a warm and heartfelt thing, even with the glassiness in her eyes. "Aw, really?” She fluttered her wings excitedly. “Yay!"

I giggled, and Rainbow Dash giggled along, though she likely had absolutely no idea why. Even in her stupor, she was giddy over the thought of a sleepover. You had to admit: it was pretty sweet.

It occurred to me that, perhaps, Rainbow could only be this giddy absolutely smashed.

I was alright with that.

Rainbow slammed back against my side and began to plod forward once again, wing wrapped tightly around my barrel.

"So. Was I right?" she asked.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, though my smile didn’t fade. "Right about what, Dashie?"

"Didja have fun?"

She looked up at me, a dopey smile on her face, her feelings of superiority--though inaccurate--obvious from her half-lidded eyes. As she waited for an answer, they began to fall closed even further.

I relented and forced a smile back at her. "Sure, Dashie. I had fun," I muttered sarcastically.

"Really?!" Rainbow beamed, having evidently missed the sarcasm entirely. She reared up on her back hooves and tackled me with an enormous bearhug. "Aw, egghead! That's so great!"

Despite the momentum she had going for her, Rainbow weighed next to nothing, and I hardly stumbled.

I gave her a weak pat on the back. "Yeah, yeah."

Rainbow's body seemed to be growing weaker and weaker the longer our embrace dragged on, until her back legs finally gave out under her own weight. Acting quickly, I dipped low and managed to half-toss, half-slide Rainbow onto my back. Once again, all those hollow pegasus bones saved me from real damage.

She talked a big game, but Rainbow was essentially a wound-up parakeet.

It was only a few more yards to the castle, and I managed to lumber along with her on my back all the way up the front steps.

A little, flickering part of me was happy that Rainbow hadn't seen me and the mystery mare. I guess because it would have made it less special. That little encounter was like something out of an adventure novel; a chance encounter with a wise stranger in a tavern, or something like that. It was all kind of exciting! I, Twilight Sparkle, had met somepony in a club! Somepony I never would have met otherwise, who was different, and a little crazy, and…

What she had said about music. About knowing the math and the science, but always pushing. Always experimenting. Always reaching for the cutting edge, the new horizon, fueled by passion and courage. I couldn't help but think about my own early classes in magic and sorcery.

I suppose, to a unicorn whose special talent was in music, music really was magic.

The thought brought a little smile to my face, though I couldn’t truly place why.

The door to my new castle opened slowly but loudly, the groaning of its hinges echoing through the empty foyer. Rainbow Dash kicked weakly with one leg and made a little grunt.

I chuckled to myself. I had been sure to keep tabs on her drinking, though I'd never tell her. Rainbow had had a single hard cider. All this tiredness and tipsy weirdness was either purely from dancing, or simply an act to get her carried home. She was like a sleepy foal after a big day at the fair.

My hoofsteps were magnified on the crystal floors. I did my best to step carefully, quietly. My wings were shuddering from the effort of keeping Rainbow Dash from slipping off my back and into a concussion.

Rainbow needed a little magical boost from behind to make it up the stairs. She giggled a little at the touch.

At long last, I made it to my study room. It was a hidden room, far away from where even wandering guests might be able to find it. The room was practically wall-to-wall plushness; cushions, pillows, bean bag chairs, stuffed animals, and even bits and bobs of my own experimental cloud floating about.

Rainbow all but belly-flopped off my back into her new nest.

"Rainbow?"

"Mmuh," she replied, face-down in a wadded-up blanket.

"I'm gonna take a bath, okay? I smell like…" I paused and sniffed under my foreleg. "Eugh. I don't even know. B.O. and wine spritzers?"

Rainbow made a sound that may have been a chuckle (though it was hard to tell), followed by a long, happy sigh.

Satisfied, I trotted across the hall to the bathroom. I paused a moment, about to shut the door, but decided I would leave it open to keep an eye on Rainbow. She probably wouldn’t need it, but… just in case.

With a sparkle of magic, a twist of the knob, and a little light rumbling in the pipes, hot water rushed forth in a cloud of steam.

As I stood beside the tub, my hoof hanging in the stream of hot water, the mystery mare’s face swirled through my mind. There was just something so itchingly familiar about her! I knew her… somehow. I was almost certain of it.

I had never spoken to her before, that’s for sure. I'm not sure exactly why I felt so certain about that. She had a unique voice, I suppose. I would have remembered it.

Where would I have seen a pony and not spoken to them?

I ran through a few major events in my head. The Grand Galloping Gala, maybe? Shook a lot of hooves there. A lot of hooves. Was hers among them, perhaps?

No, no, that couldn't be it. I would have remembered her outfit! Surely a pony like her would have worn something very sharp and memorable. Something not-quite-a-suit, not-quite-a-dress, just barely formal enough to be allowed by dress code, and yet also outdressing everypony else there. Yes, that seemed like her style.

Oh, who was I kidding? She probably wouldn't wear a stitch of clothing to something like that. Just showed up, right off the street, ready to party with the best of them.

That seemed right.

The kind of confidence she had… walking right up to a princess in a public space. The thought of speaking even to Princess Luna without a proper ‘hello’ was terrifying to me.

I turned the water off with moments to spare and used my magic to let a little extra out of the tub.

Maybe she was at the young fliers thing? That was still pre-royalty for me. I wasn't so focused on public image, or social awareness, or… well. I wasn't so focused. Let's leave it at that.

No, of course not! She's a unicorn, dummy. There wasn't exactly space for unicorns at an event like that.

I lowered myself down into the bath. I hadn't always been a ‘bath mare’. That was probably because I’d never really had a bathtub past foalhood that could fit me. Although, to be fair, I don’t think I would have dared make time for a bath as Celestia’s student, even if one had been right there in the library. Something something efficiency, something something scheduling...

But I was cool now. Interesting. Adventurous. I'd been to a rave!

Gosh, what else had I done?

My mystery mare couldn't have been the coronation, that was friends and family only. A lot of them, to be fair. But… not that one. I would have noticed her. I'm sure I would have.

I took a deep breath and slid even lower into the bathwater. My snout dipped under the surface and the water warmed my whole face, like a powerful blush. I breathed out. The surface of the water foamed up with little bubbles. So cute, like little flowers blooming from the side of a--

That's it!

I gasped lightly, still underwater, and immediately began coughing up bathwater.

My hooves pedaled wildly in the air, grasping at the smooth porcelain in an effort to haul myself out of the water.

Even over my frantic splashing, I could hear an equally frenzied scrambling from my study room, and Rainbow Dash shot across the hall with all the grace of a newborn deer.

"Twilight, are you okay?!" She skidded to a halt before smashing into the tub.

She dove her front hooves into the water and hauled me into an upright position.

I continued spluttering, unable to express my gratitude.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry!" Rainbow scuttled backward and shielded her eyes with her wings, peeking out just far enough to watch me cough up the last of the water I'd inhaled.

"Cadance's wedding!" I shouted.

"Excuse me?" Rainbow said, still cowering behind her wings.

I rolled my eyes. "Just put your wings down, Rainbow. You've seen me take a bath before."

Rainbow did as she was told, though still politely averted her eyes by looking up at the ceiling. She seemed a lot more lucid than just a few minutes earlier.

A strange silence filled the room. Only the lingering echoes of distrubed bathwater could be heard.

I looked up at Rainbow. "What happened to you? I thought you were drunk."

"I thought you were drowning!" Rainbow retorted. "It's… it's adrenaline! Very sobering!"

I almost laughed, but ended up coughing more.

"Twilight?!"

I waved my hoof dismissively, still coughing. "The wedding!"

"Uh. Wh-what about the wedding?"

"Do you remember the song we did? Love is in Bloom?" I asked.

Rainbow shrugged. "Like… barely. I feel like we sing at least a song a week "

"Do you remember the DJ who played it for us?" I continued. "White coat? Big, spikey, super-blue mane? Shades?"

Rainbow scoffed. "Come on, Twi. That was, like, a million years ago!"

"That was three years ago!"

"That's easily a million Rainbow years!" Rainbow argued. Weirdly enough, I knew exactly what she meant. "Just get to the point."

"I met her! At the club!"

Rainbow cocked her head. "The DJ?” Her eyes narrowed. “And… you only just realized?"

I nodded and smiled, proud of my work. Not too shabby, Twi!

Rainbow chuckled. “Uh… cool.”

"Ohmigosh, I have to call her!" I stood quite suddenly, almost forgetting that I was in a bath. No, definitely forgetting I was in a bath.

The sound alone from the resulting torrent of water washing through the bathroom could have woken the dead.

"Are you serious, Twi?!" Rainbow jumped back and skittered into the hallway. "Didn't you just get in there?"

"Oh, pfft." I waved my hoof in Rainbow's face. "I was in there long enough. I'm fresh as a daisy!"

"And you got out because…?"

"I have to call her!"

"Call who Twilight?" Rainbow asked. She sounded outright exhausted, which struck me as being rather rude. "The DJ?"

"Tsk, no!" I shook my head. "Cadance! I'm sure she'll find it all very funny. Now stand back, lemme shake."

Rainbow steeled herself. "No way you're gonna shake dry in your own--"

"Here goes!"

I pushed off the ground with both front hooves and landed with a loud, powerful thud. From this new stance I shook my whole body off, head to tail, paying extra attention to my wings.

Rainbow Dash stretched her wings around her face in a vain attempt to shield herself. Her tactic failed miserably.

We stood there for a second, the both of us now soaked with about the same amount of water.

I chuckled. "Sorry."

"Twi, it's 5:30 AM," Rainbow reminded me.

"And?"

She rolled her eyes. Her whole head, actually. "And I don't think it matters how funny you think it is. Nothing is funny over the phone at 5:30 AM."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Rainbow, it may be 5:30 here, but in the Crystal Empire it's already 8:30!" I tapped her nose with my hoof. "Timezones!"

Rainbow clenched her teeth. "That's still too early."

I shrugged. "Not when you're a princess! I don't think Cadance has ever slept past 7. Now, scoot."

Rainbow stood stock still a moment longer, but quickly gave up and stepped to the side. One thing she had definitely improved in lately was knowing when to admit defeat. Of course, saying as much to her would probably shatter her fragile ego, and so I kept the compliment to myself.

I had barely made it to the end of the hall when Rainbow trotted up next to me.

"So, wait-- when you say 'meet', you mean… what, exactly?" She asked.

"Oh, you know. We talked for a while. She gave me some ear plugs," I said, turning to my left and heading down a new hallway.

Rainbow paused at the branching hallway, then suddenly does back to my side, chuckling all the way. "I'm sorry, Twi, it sounded like you said she gave you ear plugs!” She gave me a clap on the shoulder. “But that's crazy, right? Nopony would give out ear plugs in a club."

I rolled my eyes. "Look, Rainbow: not everypony likes blowing out their ear drums for music."

Rainbow stuck her hoof in her ear and rooted around a bit, as if for a piece of cotton. "Huh? What's that? I can't hear you, I blew out my ear drums for music."

I came to a stop in front of the telecrystal’s door. "Very funny."

Rainbow chuckled.

I turned back to the door and pushed it open. It was fairly standard as far as these things usually go; a mid-sized room with a structure akin to a birdbath at the center. In front of the bath was a wide seat, about big enough for three ponies sitting side-by-side. Maybe not as sleek as the royal communication rooms, but I was lucky to have something so new. The Golden Oaks library never could have been outfitted with something like this.

"Oh, I've gotta see this." Rainbow galloped into the room and leapt up onto the seat.

I climbed up next to her. "Cadance and I call each other all the time!"

"Do you really, though?" Rainbow asked, smirking. "Do you really?"

"Why are you acting so weird about this?" I asked.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Twilight. You met some mare at a club and now you're just dying to fill in the princess of love?" She leaned her cheek on her hooves, doing her best to look love-struck. "This is totally one of those missed-connection things."

"Oh, give me some credit." I poked Rainbow's shoulder. "I wouldn't let a connection miss me. This is just something fun for sister-in-laws to share!"

"Yeah, but--"

"Shush, I need to concentrate."

Rainbow grumbled a bit, but fell silent.

I dipped one hoof into the pool of water, then shook it dry. Disturbed water makes a better connection, or so they say.

For a unicorn, making a call was as easy as holding a pony's face or cutie mark in your mind and using your magic to illuminate the water. If the pony you were trying to contact had a crystal pool, the light would turn green, and they would (hopefully) be speaking with you shortly. If not, the light would turn red and fade.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on Cadance. Her face was so familiar, always a part of my life, always there, always--

No, no. Cadence had a pink coat.

Refocus, Twi.

Yes, Princess Cadance. That cotton-candy coat, her luxurious curls with the electric blue streaks--

No. Purple. Purple and yellow. Come on, Twilight!

And her cutie mark! Could never forget that powder blue heart, surrounded by musical notes! I mean, ribbons!

"Uh, Twi?" Rainbow tapped my shoulder. "I think you may have made a mistake."

I opened my eyes. The water was glowing red.

"Oh, shoot." I let the light from my horn die out. "Let me try again."

Princess Cadance

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Pink coat, curly mane, princess of love. My sister-in-law. Not a DJ from a club.

Like a gear falling into place, the magical connection was forged, and the light from the pool turned green.

Rainbow held her tongue as we waited patiently for Cadance to pick up. After only a moment, we heard the sound of a door opening.

"Twilight, is that you?" The voice was far-away and tinny, but unmistakably hers. The light from the water pulsed with her voice.

"Cadance!" I shouted. "Hi!"

Cadance laughed. "Hi, Twilight! How are you? Isn't it really early in Ponyville?"

"Well, Rainbow Dash and I just got back from a night out," I said, giving Rainbow Dash a nudge.

Rainbow heaved an enormous sigh. "Hi, Cadance," she said, doing an excellent impression of a foal greeting their grandmother.

"Oh! Hi, Rainbow!" Cadance giggled.

"And the craziest thing happened!" I said.

Cadance laughed again. "You going out at all is crazy enough, isn't it, Twi?"

Rainbow laughed, too.

"Hey!" I whined. "Actually, I met somepony you may remember!"

"Did you?"

"Yes! The DJ from your wedding! Remember? White unicorn mare, spiky blue mane, shades?" I mimicked the shape of the mare's mane, despite Cadance not being able to see me. "Remember?"

There was a long silence. "Uh… sure! Kind of."

My wings dropped in disappointment. "You don't remember her?"

Cadance chuckled awkwardly. "You know, there was kind of a lot going on that day… at that point, I was lucky to be above ground!"

I chuckled sheepishly. "Oh. Right."

"You know what? I actually think Shining Armor was the one who picked her. Hang on." There was some shuffling on the other end. "Honey! Your sister's on the telecrystal!"

In the distance, I could hear Shining Armor's voice. His hoofsteps rushed toward the pool.

"Twily!"

"Hey, Shiny!"

Rainbow slid a little further down into the seat, evidently doubly bored by the addition of my brother.

"Hon, do you remember the DJ from our wedding?" Cadance said this a little lower, directly to her husband. "Twilight says she ran into her at a bar. Do you remember--"

"Oh, my gosh, yeah!" Shining Armor laughed. "Vinyl Spin! No, no-- Vinyl Scratch! That's it. Yeah, she's, like, a friend of a friend. Knows somepony in the royal guard. You really met her at a club?"

"Yes!"

"That's so crazy!"

"I know!" I nudged Rainbow again, a little harder this time.

Rainbow scoffed. "Your family's weird."

"I kinda can't believe you haven't run into her before," Shining continued. "She lives in Ponyville, you know."

I blinked. "O-oh?"

Rainbow, interest renewed, leaned forward slightly, trying to get a good look at my face. I turned away as subtly as I could.

"Yeah! That was why my buddy in the guard mentioned her in the first place. I'd been talking about your move into Golden Oaks," Shining explained. "You know, I bet I still have her mailing address in my-- hang on, just a sec."

"Oh, no! That's okay!" I protested.

Rainbow buried her face in her hooves.

"No trouble! Should be right here in my…" Shining sustained the word over the sound of rapidly flipping paper. "Ah-ha! My trusty rolodex."

"Oh, my gosh, you guys are clones," Rainbow moaned.

Cadance laughed. "He's very proud of his rolodex. Aren't you, honey?"

"Looks like she lives at 412 Pine Avenue in Ponyville," Shining said, ignoring his wife's patronizing remarks. "Gosh, that is so crazy, Twilight! I'm so glad you called!"

"Me too!" Cadance agreed.

I grinned. "Aw, you guys are the best! I'll see you next weekend for family dinner, right?"

"Of course!" They said in unison.

Rainbow slid down in her seat and rolled her head back in exasperation. "All three of you are clones!"

"Love you, Twily!" Shining said.

"Love you, too! So long!"

I dimmed my horn, and the call ended. One thing I hated about the telecrystal was how odd the room felt when a call had ended, as if your friend had vanished into thin air. The room yawned wide. I suddenly felt very exposed.

Rainbow looked over at me.

I ignored her.

She wiggled one eyebrow slightly.

I continued to ignore her.

"So," she said.

"So?" I repeated. "Embarrassed you were wrong? See, Rainbow, some families like sharing little things like that."

"So you have her name and address now," Rainbow said. She smirked. "Planning on… doing anything with that information?"

I scoffed, stuttered a bit, and finally said "no! No, of course not.” I bit down on my lip. “It's just… interesting. That's all."

"Uh-huh." Rainbow crossed her forelegs over her chest, clearly not convinced.

"Although…" I tapped my chin with one hoof. "Well, as the Princess of Friendship, I would be remiss if I didn't at least thank her for a nice night."

Rainbow snorted. "Did you not thank her while you were there? Damn, Twi, your social skills are worse than I thought."

"That's-- that's not--" I sighed. "That is a mischaracterization of the night. Our conversation was incredibly casual, and I thanked her with compliments and company."

"But not, say, the word 'thanks,?"

"Oh, shut up."

Commitment

It had been a few days since our night out, and I was no closer to a decision.

On the one hoof, there was absolutely no pressure to see Vinyl again. I mean, I had to ask around to even figure out her name! She clearly wasn't making it easy to reconnect. Maybe she had a good reason.

On the other hoof, there were so many things I wanted to talk to her about! Music, magic, those ear plugs…

I rolled the two little, orange pellets around in my hoof. Enchanted ear plugs. Why hadn't I thought of that?

She just seemed so… complicated. And interesting. And smart! But smart in the real way. Not smart in my big-words, heavy-books way.

"You okay, Twilight?"

I jolted, the wooden chair I was sitting in squealing against the tile floor.

"Oopsie!" Pinkie put a hoof over her mouth. "Didn't mean to scare ya, Twi. Whatcha got there?"

I sighed and dumped the ear plugs into the table. "A magical gift from a magical mare that I'll never see again because everything's weird."

Pinkie laughed. "Twilight, those are ear plugs!"

"Magic ear plugs!" I told her. I held them up to her face. "Selective ear plugs. The charm on this is so complex, so elegant, so--"

"Ew, they've still got some wax on them," Pinkie commented.

I smacked my forehead on the table.

"I don't get it, Twilight. Why can't you see her again? Does she live far away?" Pinkie asked, taking the seat across from me.

"No. She lives in Ponyville." I muttered into the tabletop.

Pinkie's eyes lit up. "Ohmigosh, that's amazing! You gotta go see her!"

"I can't," I said. I rolled my head to the side. "She never told me her name or where she lived. If I tracked her down, she'd probably be really freaked out."

"Oh, pft." Pinkie shook her head. "I do that kind of stuff all the time, and nopony's ever been freaked out before. Well, except Cranky. But that's his name, so it must be his game!"

I sighed. "Well, yeah, but you're Pinkie Pie! And I'm Twilight. And when Twilight does that stuff, she's not super charming, she's just weird."

"Why are you talking about yourself in the third pony?" Pinkie cocked her head. "That's kinda weird-sounding."

"See?" I whined. Then I put my head back down on the table.

“Oh, gee, Twilight,” Pinkie said. She reached across the table to gently pet my mane. “That’s kind of a pickle, huh?”

I nodded.

“Well, you know what I always do when I’m in a pickle?” Pinkie asked.

I sighed again, this time letting in verge on a growl. “You sing a song?”

“How’d you guess?” Pinkie leapt up from the table, took an enormous breath, and--

I jammed my hoof in her mouth. “I don’t need a song, Pinkie!” I hissed. “I need to figure out how to let it go!”

Pinkie mumbled something around my hoof.

“Sorry,” I said, pulling my hoof away.

“Why let it go?” Pinkie asked.

I shrugged. “I mean, what else can I do? It’s just such a stupid thing to get all hung up on. I met a really nice barista at Donut Joe’s last week. Why didn’t I obsess over him?”

“Well, duh,” Pinkie said, flopping back down in her seat. “‘Nice’ isn’t the same as ‘friend.’ There’s that extra something special that makes a friendship! The extra pizazz, the sparkle, the… erm, the…”

“The magic?” I suggested.

“Ohmigosh, yes!” Pinkie smiled.

I chuckled, if weakly.

“Well?” Pinkie pressed. “Was there magic, do you think?”

There was some magic, there, I thought. Between me and Vinyl, that is. Something had sparked there, in the infinite void that separated academia and artistry. Perhaps the spark had been allowed to catch because Vinyl did not believe there to be such a void in the first place. She had walked right up to me, after all. A princess.

“I think so,” I said. A little smile pulled at the corner of my mouth.

“Then you absolutely, posi-tutely have to see her again!” Pinkie squealed. “Have to, have to, have to!”

“You think?” I asked. I bit down on my lower lip to keep my wild grin under control.

“Yes!” Pinkie punched the air with one hoof. “Although… maybe you should write her a letter, first.”

I blushed. “Good plan.”

“Now, now, back to business:” Pinkie stood up. “What can I getcha, Twilight? I’ve got a brand-new concoction cooking up right now! Peppermint-Mocha-Marshmallow-Espresso Truffle-Bite Puffs! Wanna try one?”

I shook my head. “Just a blueberry muffin, please.”

Pinkie shook her head solemnly. “Such a shame. Comes to the best bakery in Equestria to get a plain blueberry muffin.”

“Best blueberry muffin in all of Equestria, though!” I said.

Pinkie walked away, still shaking her head. “A tragedy, really. Waste of a perfectly good bakery.”

Alright, this was it.

I was going to do it.

I tapped my pen thoughtfully against my chin, staring down at the ominously blank paper with furtive anxiety.

You see, starting a letter is hard. You have to pick how you’re going to refer to the recipient, which says more than you would think.

For example, using ‘Dear Vinyl’ wouldn’t work for a variety of reasons. Firsty, because the word ‘dear’ says that I am incredibly comfortable expressing love to almost complete strangers, which isn’t the least bit true. Secondly, because she had never told me her name, and using it here would be damning evidence that I had done some digging.

Of course, dropping the note at her doorstep said something sort of similar. I had figured I would lie to her when I saw her again, but did I really want to start off a friendship with a massive lie?

Hm. I rapped my pen against my jaw.

Let’s cross that bridge when we get there, Twi. Can’t deliver a letter you haven't written, after all!

I guess I could write it to ‘Mystery Mare.’ But… I dunno. That felt wrong. It was too… too…

Maybe I should just go casual! Start off with a ‘Hello!’ or a ‘Hi, there!’ No need for a name, that way. Just simple, easy-going, normal stuff.

Yes. Perfect.

Hello!

I paused. Looks great!

I sat back in my chair and admired the neatness of my letters, the swoop of the exclamation point. Admirable work, Twilight. Impressive, even. Yes, I could look at this word all day! Such a good-looking word. Splitting the difference perfectly between casual and fancy. It said everything.

Maybe I should just deliver it like this?

No, no. Don’t be stupid, Twilight. How will she know who sent it?

I lowered my pen towards the paper, ready to add in a nice ‘-Twilight’ and be done.

No!

I whipped the pen away.

Come on, Twilight! Now’s the time for you to say all the stuff you wanna say! About music and math and science and dancing and magic! And friendship! And the magic of friendship!

My mind went blank. Blanker than a fresh whiteboard.

‘I had a great time with you the other night!’

Oh, no. No, no.

‘Our night at the club was super fun!’

No! She probably meets all kinds of mares in clubs. She’d never remember little old me, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. I had to remind her of something special about our night! A detail!

‘That music was great, huh?’

No.

‘Neon Lights sure can play!’

Eesh, no!

‘Thanks for the ear plugs!’

Eh, more of an ender.

‘Remember me?’

I paused.

Oh. That was actually pretty good. Kinda cheeky, kinda sassy. Maybe even a little funny.

I scribbled it down, then re-read my work so far.

Hello!

Remember me?

Wow! On a roll already.

Now to very casually ask to meet up again. In a non-creepy way.

Or-- wait, should I explain how I found her in this letter? That could work!

I saw you walk into your house the other day, but wasn’t able to catch you! Hope you’re not creeped out!

I lifted my pen.

“Oh, no, no…”

I crumpled up the parchment and tossed it over my shoulder. With a quick teleportation spell, another, fresh piece was laid out on my desk.

Easy part first. Put what you put on the last one.

Hello!

Rember me?

Oh, shoot! I misspelled!

Crumple, toss, teleport.

Hello!

Remember me?

No… no, the hook on that question mark just doesn’t look right.

Crumple, toss, teleport.

Hello!

Hm. The more I wrote it, the weirder it sounded. Honestly, anything with a question mark can sound kinda creepy if you read it the wrong way.

Alright, new rule: no questions.

I hope you haven’t forgotten about me!

Oh, gosh, no! So needy!

Crumple, toss, teleport.

Alright, Twilight. No pressure. Just think it through before you start writing this time.

Hello!

I hope you’re doing well!

I had a really nice time with you at the club the other night. We should do it again sometime!

-Twilight

P.S.: Thanks for the ear plugs!

PERFECT!

I grabbed my pen and scribbled as fast as I could (without making any spelling mistakes, that is).

I held up the letter.

Hello!

Hope you’re good!

The other night was just so fun, could we do it again sometime?

Thanks for the cool ear plugs!

-Twilight

...Eesh.

That sounded way better in my head.

Maybe if I just--

Hello! What’s up?

Hope you’re goodI Just kidding, I know you can’t answer. This is a letter!

The other night was just so funthe best night of my life nice, could we do it again sometime?.

Thanks for the cool ear plugs!

-Twilight <3

Perfect!

… No. No, no, much worse.

Maybe if I--

No. Unfixable. Very, very bad.

Crumple, toss, teleport.

Just commit, already! This isn't that hard! It’s a letter-- ponies write them every day! And you’re normally so good with words, Twilight. You’re so eloquent! So well-spoken! I mean, you almost seem normal in a letter!

I threw my pen up in the air, tried to catch it, missed, and fell backwards out of my chair.

Okay. Maybe it was just time to be honest.

Hello!

I’m not good at this. Letter-writing, that is. It’s so hard to write a nice letter, don’t you think?

Well, anyway, I had a great time at the club the other night. And I’m not a fan of clubs. So it must have been pretty special.

As the Princess of Friendship, I feel that it is my duty to follow-up with you. I found you through a friend of a friend of a brother. Can we do it again sometime?

-Twilight

P.S.: I kept the ear plugs

I leaned back in my chair and read the letter a few times. It wasn’t perfect. But I guess I wasn’t perfect, either. So it kinda worked.

I dug around in my desk drawer for an envelope, trying not to become overwhelmed by the available options. The letter slid in easily. Like it was made to be there.

Just as I was licking the envelope shut, there was a quiet rapping on my door.

“Twilight?”

“Oh!” I pushed my chair back from my desk, craning my neck for a look at the little dragon on my threshold. “Spike, perfect timing! I have a letter to send.”

Spike held up a piece of lined paper, folded in thirds. “That’s funny, ‘cause you actually just got a letter! Somepony put this through the mail slot earlier.”

“Really? Gee, I hardly ever get mail.”

Spike shrugged his shoulders and toddled across the room, holding out the paper. “I almost caught her, but whoever dropped it off ran away so fast I only caught a glimpse of their tail. You don’t think it’s anything… dangerous, do you?”

“Only one way to find out,” I murmured, unfolding the paper.

Yo, Twilight!

Sorry, I hope this isn’t too weird, but your castle is pretty easy to find, haha.

I had a lot of fun talking to you the other night! I thought maybe you’d like to go out again sometime, maybe somewhere a little less loud?

Although, I’ll always have a spare set of ear plugs ;)

-Vinyl Scratch, 412 Pine Ave, Ponyville

I must have been smiling, because Spike breathed a sigh of relief. “You sure have weird friends, Twilight. Where do you want me to send this one?”

“No!” I snatched the envelope out of his claws, crumpled it, and tossed it over my shoulder.

Spike took a step back.

I chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry. Just let me write a different one real quick.”

I whipped out a new piece of paper.

Yes!!

-Twilight

There. Perfect.

I quickly folded it in thirds and passed it to Spike. “There ya go! Send it to 412 Pine Ave, please.”

Spike scoffed. “What am I, an atlas? If it’s not to the Princess, send it yourself!”

“Alright, cranky-pants.” I reached over to give him a gentle noogie. “I’ll walk it over tomorrow.”

Spike smiled, proud of his little rebellion. “Well, good. I’ve got a very important sunshine-nap to get back to.”

He wandered off, stumpy little tail dragging behind him.

I read the note from Vinyl over again once or twice, then hugged it to my chest. My heart did a little flutter.

There was definitely magic here.

Dance

"What do you think, Spike? Mane up?"

A cloud of magenta magic twisted about my mane, pulling it up into a high and bouncy fillytail. I flipped my head from side to side and watching the length of hair sway back and forth.

"Looks good," Spike mumbled from behind his comic.

"Or is down better?" I asked. I allowed the magic to dissipate, and my mane cascaded back down my shoulders. Not cascaded. Just plain fell.

“Uh-huh…” Spike licked one claw and turned his comic to the next page.

I cocked my head, considering my reflection. “Well, she saw me with my mane down, right? What if she doesn’t recognize me with my mane up?”

“Good point…”

My hooves were dancing up and down all on their own. I leaned in close to the mirror and examined my face for blemishes. Finding none, my attention zeroed in on my complexion, which was as flat and even as ever. Should I add some blush? Did I even have blush?

"Oh, I should have asked Rarity over…" I swept my bangs to one side, then the other.

Spike lowered his comic and peered over it. "What's wrong with how you usually look?"

I groaned. "I feel like I just look so… frumpy."

"Frumpy?" Spike repeated in a monotone.

I nodded. "Frumpy, Spike! I look like I should be wearing a school uniform! Do I always look like this?!"

Spike's eyes scanned me quickly. "Well, yeah! Just less… sweaty."

"I'm sweaty?!" I pressed my nose against the glass and squinted at my forehead, looking for evidence of moisture. My breath fogged up the mirror almost instantly.

Spike sighed and shielded himself behind his comic book once more.

I stepped back from the mirror and cleared it with a burst of magic.

"I just wish I knew where we were meeting. If we were going to a coffee shop, I'd probably go like this. If it's another club, I'd much rather--"

"Twilight!" Spike threw his comic down on the floor. "You never dress up for stuff! You've only ever dressed up for two events: the Grand Galloping Gala, and your birthday in Canterlot." Spike held up two claws and waved them wildly. "Stop being weird! We both know you're going to go just like that, so just be quiet and let me read!"

I bit my lip and looked sheepishly down at the floor. He may have been young, but Spike knew me longer than any of my friends from Ponyville. Sometimes he was the only one who could see through my panic.

"Now, take a deep breath," Spike instructed.

I filled my chest with air.

"And let it out."

The air rushed back out of my lungs sharp enough to disrupt the Spikes comic on the floor.

"Better?" Spike asked.

I nodded. "Better."

Spike smiled a strained smile. "Great." He bent down, picked up his comic, and resumed reading.

Yeah. All good. No pressure. This wasn't a job interview, after all! No need to get fancy, or dress up, or--

I rushed back to the mirror. "Although, I really think if I just put my mane--"

Spike hurled the comic at my face. It stuck for a moment, then slid to the floor with a pronounced plop.

"Right."

Spike crossed his arms over his chest. "When is she coming to pick you up, anyway?"

I glanced at the clock on the wall. "S-soon."

As if on cue, I heard a knock at the door.

I gasped audibly and shot across the room on shaking wings. When I whipped the door open, Vinyl's hoof was still poised in the air, as if I had interrupted her.

I froze.

She froze.

"Hi!" I said.

"Uh…" Vinyl shook her head slightly. "Hi, there!"

She looked very different. Her mane was slicked back away from her face with a frankly horrifying amount of hair gel. She was wearing a bowtie, and her usual shades were missing entirely.

I guess I must have stared too long, because Vinyl reached up to touch her mane, a deep pink blooming in her cheeks. "Oh, this! It's not-- it'll make sense, I promise."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize--"

"This is for you," Vinyl said. She produced a dark, wide-brimmed hat and a matching clip-on bowtie, holding them out to me.

I blinked. "Oh! They're very-- erm, they're so--"

Vinyl shook her head. "It's not a gift! It's, like, a costume."

"A… costume?" I turned the hat over in my grasp. It was very old-fashioned, with a plume of fake flowers and feathers attached to thick ribbon around its band, all black.

"Ah, that makes it sound super weird!" Vinyl smacked her forehead with one hoof. "I swear this isn't, like, a weird s--"

Vinyl stopped herself there by stuffing her own hoof in her mouth.

I stared at her for a moment. Her piercing red eyes were wide with panic. Honestly, had I not known better, I could have convinced myself I was still looking into a mirror.

"Well, bye, Twilight!" Spike called.

"Bye!" I shouted back, still frozen to the spot.

The door slammed shut behind me.

The sudden sound snapped the both of us out of our panic paralysis. Vinyl stepped to the side and looked down at the ground. "Sorry. I guess I'm nervous. I don't usually get to hang out with royalty."

I laughed. A snort snuck out. "I'm barely royalty. Just pretend these things aren't here!" I said, fluttering my wings. I suddenly felt very silly and snapped them back in against my sides. "Um… should I put these on now?"

"Ah, forget about it. It was-- it was a joke, anyway, so don't--" Vinyl made a grab for the hat and pearls, but I moved them just out of her reach.

I drew in a short breath, blew it out. "No. I'm being adventurous today."

A cloud of magenta magic whirled about my head, drawing my mane into a messy up-do. I stuffed the hat down on top of it and gave it a cocky tilt. The bowtie fastened around my neck with a neat click.

Vinyl grinned. "Awesome. I really think you'll like this, Princess."

"It's Twilight," I said. "Unless I should be going by a different name tonight?"

Vinyl smiled to herself. "T-Twilight's fine. Good, even!"

"So, where are we headed?" I asked. I began to trot down the long, low steps.

Vinyl hurried on my tail. "Uh, well, why don't you just let me lead the way. Don't wanna spoil the surprise, after all." She winked as she took a slight lead.

I swallowed hard. "Sure!"

But I wasn't.

This went against my every instinct! Following a strange mare to a strange place in a strange outfit. But this sort of anxiety was almost… good. I liked the fluttering, burning feeling in my chest. In my mind, I tried to travel back to those early days when a new friend was a rare, magnificent achievement. Had it felt like this?

"So, get this: I did some reading about surrealism," Vinyl said, not missing a beat, "and, I gotta say. Shit's freaky. See, when I think of breaking the rules, I think of fun! But that stuff is just--"

"Creepy?" I suggested.

"So creepy!" Vinyl glanced at me, eyes wide with wonder. "I saw a picture of a teacup made of fur. I can literally still feel it on my tongue."

I laughed. "It's… definitely not for everypony."

"Well, you know. I'm haunted for eternity, now. No big deal," Vinyl muttered. "Stupid fur cup."

I kept laughing. Do I normally laugh this much? It's like I can't stop myself from laughing, even if I wanted to.

Just focus on something else. Look at the early-morning sun. Enjoy the smell of the fresh air. Try to guess which location Vinyl Scratch is going to end up murdering you in. After all, why would a mare with a steady partner want to go out with somepony else?

I shook my head clear of the danger impulse. "Er how long have you lived in Ponyville?"

"Me?" Vinyl pointed to herself. "Oh. I grew up in Chicoltgo. Which is why I talk like this, 'cause I'm goin' t' see Da May-ers." Vinyl blew a raspberry at the end of her comedically-accented sentence.

"Oh, you barely have an accent," I said, waving it off with one hoof. "You should hear some of my friends from Canterlot! Whew, do they talk like upper-crust snobs sometimes."

Vinyl chuckled. "You have a bit of an accent yourself, there, Princess. I mean-- Twilight." So softly she said my name, as if it were forbidden.

I matched her volume. "Do I, really?"

Vinyl squinted. "Barely there. I'm sure it's invisible to anypony who doesn't have my ears." She wiggled her ears, as if to prove their superiority.

We turned a corner and Vinyl came to a sudden stop.

"You've never been here before, right?" Vinyl asked, nodding towards the building. "'Cause, I gotta admit, that would kinda take the teeth outta my thing, here."

I looked the building up and down. It didn't seem extraordinary or familiar in the least. Just a plain, typical Ponyville storefront. "Uh… no, I don't think so."

Vinyl pumped a hoof in the air. "Alright, perfect. I'm glad I get to show you this."

I followed Vinyl to the front door. As I did, I thought I could feel a beat pumping, though it was so unlike the one from the club that I didn't think it could be music at all.

Vinyl pushed the double doors open and trotted into the building. I was right behind.

The room was filled with music, though in a manner that was entirely different from the club. At the club, the music had been a force pushing down on me, pressing against me, claustrophobically close. Here, it was like energy. A trampoline rippling under my hooves.

Towards the back of the room was a small stage. On it, four players: a cellist, a horn player, a clarinet player, and a pianist. The music wasn't quite jazz, wasn't quite swing… it was something rather modern, actually. No, wait: very modern.

"Are they playing Countess Coloratura music?" I asked.

Vinyl chuckled. "That's right, dollface. These guys is like a damn jukebox." An affected voice, like a hard-boiled detective, or a fast-talking reporter..

I put a hoof up to my mouth. "Are we in a speakeasy?” I could hardly contain my excitement. I had heard these places existed, but I never imagined one could be right here in Ponyville!

“We won’t be for long, you keep flappin’ ya gums like that,” Vinyl said, nudging me in the ribs. “Now siddown, let’s get you some Joe.”

Vinyl hooked her foreleg around my neck and led me towards a bar.

I leapt up on a stool with glee. A large, unshaven stallion lumbered over to me-- not so much surly as just gruff, no-nonsense.

“Miss?” He said.

“I’ll take a… ooh!” I kicked my hanging hooves in excitement. “Get me a hot blond in sand, please. “

The stallion nodded then looked to Vinyl.

“Old fashioned,” she said.

We watched as the stallion moved away.

“What the hell is a hot blond in sand?” Vinyl hissed to me.

I grinned. “Coffee with cream and sugar! Diner lingo.”

Vinyl chuckled. “I just knew you’d get a kick out of this. Didn’t think you’d have all the crazy sayings memorized, though.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I am a wealth of obscure knowledge.”

“You can say that again,” Vinyl agreed.

“Coffee. Old fashioned.” The stallion slid the drinks down the bars to us.

I rushed to catch mine, and the liquid sloshed out of the mug and over my hooves.

“Ooh! Rookie mistake, missy,” Vinyl said, her made-up voice back.

I snorted in laughter.

The stallion rolled his eyes and ambled to the other end of the bar.

Vinyl took a sip of her drink, staring across the bar at herself in the mirror.

“Little early for alcohol, don’t you think?” I asked.

“Twilight, I am essentially nocturnal,” Vinyl said, all too serious. “Your brunch is my midnight snack. Your morning coffee, my nightcap.”

“Is that because you work at night?”

“I wish!” Vinyl laughed, sipped her drink. “This is just how I am.”

The quartet onstage finished their piece, and a moderate applause rippled through the room. Vinyl set her drink down and joined in, so I followed suit.

The place may have been plain from the outside, but inside it was a gorgeous recreation of an authentic speakeasy. Or, no… now that I was getting a good look, it had some modifications. Better lighting, for one. Better sound system, for another. Actually, the whole place seemed to be an effortless blend of the modern and the vintage, right down to the jazz covers of pop songs being played on stage.

“How did you find out about this place?” I asked, craning my neck to observe the details of the room. “It doesn’t really seem like your scene, since you’re so anti-jazz.”

Vinyl nodded. “Excellent observation, Miss Sparkle. My marefriend, Octavia, played here once. Loved it. The whole vibe here is totally different than most jazz clubs. In that it is actually cool, instead of just pretending to be cool.”

I don’t know why, but the mention of Vinyl’s marefriend sent a cold shock through me.

“And… why take me here?” I asked.

“Oh, well, duh.” Vinyl motioned about the room. “I’m admitting defeat.”

“To who?” I laughed. “To me?”

Vinyl sighed. “This is one of the weirdest, rules-breaking-est, cutting-edge-est places I’ve ever been. And all they do is copy old stuff and play jazz. So you win.”

“I win?” I repeated, resting a coffee-stained hoof on my chest.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t act so surprised. I’ll totally let you brag about it on two conditions.”

I took a sip of my coffee. “And those are?”

“One,” Vinyl said, tapping her hoof on the polished wood surface of the bar for emphasis, “I’ve been looking for this documentary for a long time and you, master librarian, are going to find it for me.”

I nodded. “Done!”

“Two,” she said, tapping a second time, “You dance to a Songbird Serenade cover so I can tell all my friends I danced with a Princess.”

My heart leapt. I hid it expertly. “It’s only fair.”

Vinyl pounded her hoof one last time, twice as hard. “You are one stand-up dame, Miss Sparkle. I’ll try not to show you up on the dance floor.”

Energy

I am usually much more responsible with coffee.

I've had bad reactions, after all. Many a late night fueled by caffeine and test anxiety have shown me just how fast a pony's heart can beat.

But today, between the excitement of ordering drinks in a speakeasy and the already rapid pounding in my chest, I had overstepped my bounds. I had entirely lost count of the number of mugs the barista had slid to me.

"Now, don't forget: you owe me one copy of Resurrecting Beechloven," Vinyl said. "A deal's a--."

"Deal's a deal!" I responded, loudly and quickly.

Vinyl seemed taken aback. "You okay? You look a little--"

"Caffeinated?" I suggested. I couldn't seem to slow down my mouth. "Oh, pft, no need to worry. I can handle my coffee. I can totally handle my coffee. I am the queen of handling coffee."

It felt like my bones were vibrating.

Vinyl chuckled. "Wow, Princess of Friendship and Queen of Coffee? That's quite the domain."

My stomach acid was boiling. It was taking most of my concentration to continue walking at Vinyl's ambling pace. My joints felt like coiled springs, ready to launch me into the stratosphere at the flick of a tail.

Despite it all, I couldn't stop smiling.

"Well, this is me!" Vinyl at the end of a cobblestone walkway.

I looked down the path. At the opposite end was a moderately impressive thatched-roof cottage. The whole house seemed to be divided down the middle, each half being decorated in competing styles. Although, I suppose "half" was a poor assessment; the left side seemed to include an entire additional room. By the looks of it, this extra room housed a pipe organ.

The house was also pretty blurry, though I'd have to credit that to me dilated pupils.

"Wow," I said. Suddenly, even the caffeine coursing through my veins wasn't enough to keep me from being palpably… something. "So you live here with…?"

"With Octavia, my marefriend." Vinyl made a face that could have been a smile. It occured to me that, when talking about life partners, perhaps a smile should be easily recognized.

"Right."

"It's her house," Vinyl explained. "I… I don't do any decorating or anything."

She glanced at a large topiary in the shape of a music note and rolled her eyes.

I giggled.

Vinyl sighed. "Alright. So long, Twi. Drop by when you find me that documentary, okay?" She began trotting up the walk.

I blinked. "D-drop by?"

"Yeah!" Vinyl spun around and continued trotting backwards. "Just make sure you knock on my half of the door!"

I watched, motionless, as Vinyl walked up her marefriend's front steps and disappeared behind the door. It was so hard, nearly impossible, to stay so still. I felt as if my every tendon was a twisted rope.

The moment the door latched, I shot up into the air with a speed rivaling Rainbow Dash. I think I may have shouted or whooped something, though I doubt it was any recognizable word or thought.

My stomach hurt.

She wanted to see me again!

Gosh, my stomach hurt.

She wanted me to come over! To her house!

It was like a cramp, a really weird cramp.

Well. Her marefriend's house.

Geez, did coffee normally make me feel like this? I couldn't remember.

I wheeled backwards in the air and messily transitioned from power strokes to gliding. Everything was shaking, my stomach was churning like it was filled with a swarm of angry bees, and I was still dressed like an old-timey androgynous reporter.

The shivering of my highly-caffeinated wings made the flight bumpier than usually. I began to guide myself slowly down to the ground.

"Twilight?" A familiar voice echoed up into the sky. "Darling, is that you?"

I squinted in the direction of the Carousel Boutique, barely making out Rarity's smudged form on the ground below.

Excitement gripped me once again. I got to tell Rarity all about my-- we, well, my morning!

The closer I got to the ground, the shakier my gliding became. I tried to disguise this by greeting my friend with far too much enthusiasm. "Rarity, hi!"

She took two steps back from me as I skidded to a halt in the dirt before her. "Goodness, Twilight, are you alright? You seem--"

"Caffeinated? I am." I was panting, I realized. I tried to stop, but it only made my chest burn.

Rarity gently lifted the lop-sided hat off the top of my head. "Trying something new?" She asked, obviously not pleased with my choice.

I chuckled. "Something like that! Say, do you have some protein? Eggsalad? Peanuts? Chili?"

Rarity stared at me for a moment, then blinked. "I believe I have some falafel patties in the fridge, will that do?"

I nodded, still panting.

"Alright, let's, er…" Rarity trailed off. "Well, come with me, I suppose."

Rarity turned and began to walk back towards the Boutique. I followed close behind. My breathing was still erratic and loud, but my stomach was relaxing. The bees were fewer in number now.

The bell above Rarity's door tinkled as she opened it. "I feel like there's a story here but, frankly, I hesitate to ask. I expect a full report once you've eaten."

Rarity ushered me along, as if shooing a dog through her studio and into the kitchen. I was still far too high-energy to be herded about like an animal. My hooves were frantically tapping on the wood floor at least thrice for every one of Rarity's steps.

"There, now." Rarity practically shoved me into a chair by her kitchen table. "You're certain you're feeling alright? I've never seen you like this."

I nodded again. My hooves were talking out an asynchronous beat on the table top. "Too much coffee, didn't have breakfast."

Rarity looked at the ceiling, considering these bizarre facts. "And… why, exactly?" She asked. She opened the fridge with her magic and began rooting around for the promised food.

"Went out. Did you know there's a speakeasy in town? I had no idea!" The feeling was terrible. I knew I was talking too fast and too much, and yet it all just fell out of my mouth anyway. "Vinyl Scratch took me. She thought I would like it. She was right! They make great coffee there."

Rarity raised her eyebrows. "Clearly…" she muttered. She produced three falafel patties from the fridge. "Would you like me to heat--"

"I'll just take them!" I held out my hooves.

Rarity's eyes narrowed. She dropped the shrink wrapped patties into my open hooves.

I blushed. "Thanks."

She sighed. "Of course, darling. Don't eat too quickly."

"No promises!" I tore I to the package and popped a patty into my mouth whole.

Rarity pulled out the chair across from me and sat down, eyeing me carefully. "This Vinyl Scratch… she's the one you've been talking about all week, correct?"

I swallowed hard. The falafel was a strange combination of dry and sticky, and it caught funny in my throat on the way down
"I dunno about 'all week'," I managed to get out under some light coughing.

Rarity gave me a look that said 'I told you so' in such an exact and forceful way that I thought, for a moment, I was looking at my mother. "You met her a week ago, didn't you?"

I took a small bite of the next patty. "Well… sure. But talking 'all week' implies that she's all I've talked about all week, which isn't exactly accurate." I swallowed. "Right? It's not accurate, is it?"

Rarity arched one eyebrow. A knowing smirk teased at the corner of her mouth.

I actually felt my wings droop and my cheeks flush. "That bad, huh?"

"Oh, darling, it's not a bad thing!" Rarity reached across the table and put her hoof on mine. "It's just-- well, clearly this mare is occupying a significant portion of your thoughts. We've all noticed."

My wings dropped lower. "You have?"

"Of course! We're your friends, we always notice those sorts of things." She patted my hoof reassuringly. "I just have to wonder, Twilight; Why is it that you feel so attached to her?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I think I'm kinda… well, feeling the princess pressure, y'know? Trying to figure out what my job is, exactly. Vinyl and I really hit it off, and I feel like I have to build something there."

I took another small bite of the falafel. The burning, shaking energy was dying down, but the swarm of bees was still there.

Rarity sighed. "I can see where that would be a convenient explanation."

I squinted at Rarity. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rarity looked at me, her expression almost sympathetic. "Darling, I've seen this a thousand times, and I've lived it a thousand times."

I chewed thoughtfully on my falafel. "And what's that?"

"The jitters--"

"That's from the coffee, Rarity."

"--the talking about her--"

"Well, the map hasn't called us anywhere, I haven't had anything interesting to say."

"--the need to see her--"

"Now, I really, really think that's because--"

"Twilight, you have a crush."

My mouth did everything at once: swallowed, choked, breathed in, laughed. It was like the bathwater all over again.

Rarity jumped up and ran to my side with a little "oh!" Without missing a beat, she clutched me around the barrell in a magical grip and squeezed.

A wet lump of falafel flew across the room and landed on the wall.

"Darling, are you--"

"No!" I shook my head. "No, no, no. No, I don't!"

"Twilight, it's--"

I ran a hoof over my mane. "It's not-- we just like hanging out together, that's all. A-and I'm nervous because I'm a new princess. And because of the coffee, I always get coffee-anxious!"

Rarity did not try to interject.

"Plus, you know, Vinyl has a marefriend! Who she lives with!" I shot up from the chair and instantly began pacing. It was practically a reflex at this point. "She's set! It's not like she needs the company, she's got legions of fans! At least, I think she does. Gosh, my stomach hurts…"

I put a hoof over my stomach and leaned against Rarity's sink.

"Twilight?" Rarity murmured.

"Uh-huh…"

"Darling, I didn't mean to upset you." She trotted over to my side. "I just think you should consider the possibility that this is… something more than just friendship. I'm sure you, of all ponies, can see the difference."

I whipped my head up to look at her. "I don't think I can!"

"Oh! Well… well, that's okay, too," she said. She put her hoof on my shoulder. "I know how hard it can be to like somepony who's out of reach. Celestia, do I know…" She sighed wistfully and shook her head.

I smiled weakly.

"I'm here for you, alright?" She wrapped her foreleg around my shoulders and squeezed me in a gentle and comforting hug. "Love hurts, darling, especially when it's not yours to have."

"Aw." I hugged my friend back. "That's so sweet of you, Rarity."

"Oh, it's nothing. Now, what do you say we sit down and talk about this, hm?" Rarity released me and held me at length.

I smiled. "Nope. 'Cause there's nothing to talk about."

Rarity sighed and hung her head. "Twilight, honestly, I--"

"I'm just in a weird mood today," I said, nodding along to my own analysis. "I'm tired, I'm stressed, I'm very confused… and I had too much caffeine!"

Rarity looked up, practically glaring at me.

"I should stop drinking coffee. Yeah." I smiled to myself. "I'll switch to tea."

"Do what you must, darling," Rarity muttered. She turned to leave, walking out of her own kitchen and leaving me with my thoughts. "I'll be here to talk when you change your mind."

I stood there for a moment or two. Finally, I had put all the pieces together. I would be fine! Just had to stop drinking so much coffee.

What I didn't tell Rarity was that the energy was always there, at least a little bit. Just buzzing under the surface, and burrowing into the walls of my stomach. I couldn't even admit it to myself, really. Because, if I did, I'd have to face the fact that I was desperately trying to bury:

I was head-over-hooves for Vinyl Scratch.

Folklore

A newspaper hit my door with a heavy thwack.

It's funny, really; I had actually been looking forward to getting the paper that day. I needed distraction, and my library just wasn't providing it. Anything about music made me think of her. Anything about math, science, or technology made me think of her. And have you ever noticed how many novels have romantic plots? And subplots? And sub-subplots?

I just wanted to read a story about something other than… all of those things. Is that so much to ask?

The early morning air felt lovely against my face as I opened the door.

I looked down at the welcome mat.

It was not a newspaper.

I let out a little shriek and slammed the door. Then, after a moment's pause, I whipped the door back open, snapped up the delivery, and slammed it shut again.

Princess Twilight Sparkle: Homewrecker?

A photo of Vinyl Scratch waiting outside my door, obviously dressed for a special occasion.

A photo of the two of us walking home from the speakeasy.

A photo of Vinyl out with Octavia on some other occasion, leaning against one another and smiling, clearly a couple.

And a long, rambling article, filled with wild speculation and outright lies. Just folklore, I thought. Made-up fairy tales for the entertainment of all in Ponyville.

My magic faltered, and the tabloid fell to the crystal floor. The bees were humming in my stomach again.

Oh, gosh. What would Vinyl think? What would Octavia think? What would my friends think?

I felt like I was going to throw up.

I'm not sure how long I stood there, leering down at the tabloid from a great enough distance that I could hardly make out the poorly-typeset letters, edges smudged and bleeding from the rushed print. My legs and neck felt three times as long as they truly were. It was as if my head were waving slowly back and forth from the top of a flagpole.

Dizziness got the better of me and I sat down hard on the crystal floor.

Rainbow Dash was the first to arrive, of course. She was the fastest. She also didn’t give two shits about knocking before entering.

“Twilight!” She shouted, though it sounded very far away. “Are you okay? I’m gonna catch the punk who wrote this and wring his twerpy neck, don’t worry.”

She threw her rolled-up tabloid down on the floor beside my copy.

I stared down at the pair of them. Everyone in Ponyville must have seen it by now.

“Twilight? Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow nudged me. “Snap out of it!”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I-- I’m sorry.”

“Are you okay?” Rainbow asked. She was crouched on the floor in front of me, looking up into my stony face. “Everypony else is on their way. We’re gonna stop this crap, okay?”

I nodded.

“Okay.”

A thunderous sound rang out through the castle as Applejack kicked the doors open. “Twilight!” She cried. “I’m comin’!”

She skidded into view and sat beside Rainbow Dash.

“Those liars got another thing comin’, Twi,” Applejack said, shaking her hoof. “Nopony says that about my friends!"

But--

More and more, pouring into the castle. All five of my closest friends surrounding me, shouting in anger at the world, at the reporter, at the publisher.

"That Fresh Scoop is always spewing nonsense," Rarity said, her hoof stroking me gently between my wings. "It's about time somepony took her down."

"I'm so sorry, Twilight," Fluttershy said. She pressed her forehead against my cheek. "I can't believe somepony would say something so horrible."

Pinkie didn't say much, other than loudly announce she had brought brownies. She then dropped to the floor beside me and wrapped her forelegs around my barrel, squeezing tightly.

"We'll get 'em," Applejack said. "We'll get 'em."

"But…" The word just slipped out.

The girls froze.

"But?" Rarity asked.

My stomach hurt. My throat ached. My eyes burned. "But it's…"

I didn't finish. As guilty as I felt, I couldn't bear to admit the truth. Maybe not that I was a homewrecker, but that, if I could… I would. Gladly.

The first tears rolled silently down my cheeks. Everypony moved in to embrace me at once, and I was caught in a tangle of squeezing limbs and nuzzling snouts. I cried quietly. I felt guilty for crying.

Fluttershy was the first to stand. She helped me stand, too, and lead me slowly to the living room.

Rainbow and Applejack spoke in rough, hurried whispers. It seemed that Applejack wanted to find the pony responsible and report them. Rainbow wasn't sure that could be done, but Applejack departed anyway.

"Brownie?" Pinkie offered, holding a pan under my snout. "They're not exactly fresh, but chocolate is chocolate!"

I shook my head. "I have to…" I sniffled. "I have to go. I have to apologize, or--"

"Darling, please!" Rarity interrupted. "Anypony with half a brain knows better than to read that rag. You have nothing to worry about."

"I do, though!" I stood up. "I have to go. I really do."

I moved as if through molasses. Thoughts of preparation were swirling through my head too quickly to understand, yet too slowly to miss entirely.

Should I wash my face? I've been crying, after all.

The documentary. I have it here, somewhere. I know it. I still have time to find it before I go.

I haven't eaten breakfast. I should eat breakfast.

But what if she sees it before I get there?

The girls followed me around, trying to help as best they could.

"I'm fine!" I kept insisting. "I'm fine, I just have to go. I'm fine."

If they argued, I hardly heard it. Just continued wandering about the castle, picking things up, splashing water on my face.

"Twilight, you should really think about this," Rainbow Dash said as I neared the door.

"I did," I said. "I'm going."

And I walked out the door.

Vinyl lived minutes from my own castle. Well, I suppose Octavia lived minutes from my castle. Vinyl just stayed there with Octavia.

Thinking about Octavia made my head rush. A complete overload of emotions; some guilt, some jealousy, some anger. Some other strange one that made me want to protect Vinyl from her, as if Octavia were some evil force in the world that was using Vinyl for her own nefarious ends.

Which certainly wasn't true.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Hopefully not?

I couldn't help but stare at the tabloids which littered the steps of every home in Ponyville. It occurred to me that there was no way this many ponies actually had a subscription--Celestia knows I didn't--and that this edition was likely being used as a publicity stunt. A rushed and scandalous story which would surely make their little office a a sizable amount of money.

Honestly, I don't know if that made it better or worse.

I think it was just another slap in the face.

Octavia's house was a few yards ahead of me on my left, set far back from the rest of the hum-drum.

Wait a minute.

Set far back!

I broke into a gallop. Sure enough, as I neared the front walk, I caught a glimpse of the tabloid laying on the cobblestone.

Without slowing down, I snatched up the tabloid and crumpled it into a ball. I hurled it with all my might straight into the heart of the topiary. It lodged at the center of the music note's bulb.

I stood still for a second, proud, relieved.

I could get away with it!

Get away with what?

The door opened. I had not planned for this.

"Princess?" It was a voice I didn't recognize.

The door swung all the way open. There stood a grey earth pony mare with a long, dark mane. She had good posture, which isn't something I typically notice about another pony.

I did my best to look professional. "Y-you must be Octavia."

"Yes," she nodded.

My eyes flicked to the balled-up magazine in her topiary, then quickly back to her face. She didn't notice.

"You're here to see Vinyl?" Octavia asked. Although, it kind of split the difference between a question and a statement. I noted that she had a Bittish accent which was… unexpected, to say the least. "She mentioned you were bringing her a documentary." So calm. Almost bored.

I blinked. "Uh… yes! I have it, uh… I have it right--" I began digging frantically in the saddle bag which I hardly remembered packing. "Ah-ha!" I held up the sleeve with the record in it.

"Lovely," Octavia said. She didn't seem to mean it. "Why don't you come in?"

Before I could even think about it, I found myself entering the building. I'm not even sure I said yes.

The inside was… actually, it was precisely what you'd anticipate from the outside. Divided right down the center, one half all about comfort and technology, the other very stately and restrained. Adjacent. Not integrated.

Vinyl was standing smack in the center, quite literally on the line which divided the dwelling in two. Two hooves on the properly-finished walnut, two hooves on the hastily-stained blue.

"Hey, Twi!" She was trying to sound casual, but it fell short.

"The Princess has brought you your documentary," Octavia explained, even though nopony asked. She turned back to me. "You know, I was excited to hear that Vinyl had met with you. We musicians need all the connections we can get." She laughed tastefully.

I was only looking at Vinyl. Vinyl was only looking at the floor. "Oh?"

"Mm-hm." Octavia was gathering things from her side of the house, stuffing them into a bag. "You know, neither of us have very lucrative careers just yet. We get by, but we're always looking for our big break!"

"I see." I shuffled my hooves a bit.

Octavia sighed. "It's nothing to be so somber about. We can pay the bills." She slipped her filled saddlebag onto her back and drifted across the room to Vinyl. "Goodbye, darling."

Octavia kissed Vinyl on the cheek. Vinyl kissed Octavia's cheek in return.

With that, Octavia was gone, and it was just me and Vinyl once again.

No… not once again. For the first time ever.

My heart went right up into my throat.

"So…" Vinyl rubbed one foreleg with the other. "You brought that documentary?"

I produced it wordlessly and passed it to Vinyl.

"Cool."

I looked at Vinyl. Right into her eyes. She looked back, unafraid.

"You told her… that I was a connection?" I asked. Vague, but I knew what that meant. I was a celebrity friend for the sake of having a celebrity friends still a difficult concept to get used to.

"That's--" Vinyl sighed. "Octavia came up with all that herself. I just didn't correct her, exactly. I dunno. She can be kinda possessive sometimes."

"Is that what I am to you, though?" I murmured. "Because I'm-- I can be okay with it if I have to."

"No, Twilight," Vinyl took a step forward. "You're-- well, you're cool. Let's be honest: you wouldn't be much of a celebrity connection if that's what I was in it for, anyway, would you?" She peered at me over her shades. A tentative smirk teased at her cheeks.

I scoffed and smiled a bit myself.

"Did you wanna stay? We can listen to--"

"Somepony took pictures of us," I blurted. "A reporter. They're calling me a ho-- a homewrecker. I just wanted to warn you."

"Oh."

I waited for more, but there didn't seem to be any. "I'm sorry. I should've warned you, things can get kinda crazy around me sometimes. I'm still not really used to it myself."

"It's okay, Twi," Vinyl assured me in a soft voice. "I mean, I know better than to believe that."

"I know."

"So does Tavi."

"That's good."

"It's definitely not gonna stop me from hanging out with you," Vinyl said. She laughed a bit. "You're easily the coolest pony I've met in a club. Like, ever."

I rolled my eyes. "I know that's not true."

"It is!" Vinyl insisted. She was smiling broadly now. She had a crooked tooth, I noticed. "Cool in the real way, Twi. Not like me with the shades and the spiky hair. Really, actually cool."

I smiled. "I have a hard time believing that."

"And that's what makes you so cool!" She sounded like a foal, I thought. But also not. Also much older and wiser than I think I could wrap my head around just yet.

I sighed. "Well, I may have been not-so-cool earlier and thrown the tabloid into your big, er… eighth note." I laughed wryly. "Now that I'm saying it that sounds really dumb. I'll get rid of it for you."

Vinyl waved dismissively. "Ah, don't worry about it. I'll get it later."

We stood a moment longer, both staring at the floor, but stealing glances at one another.

Both of us had all four hooves on the blue side.

Game

"I think it's about time we have Vinyl over for a good, old-fashioned game night," Applejack said. It was so casual, so flippant. "I feel like we hardly know the mare, and Rainbow and I really went to bat for her last week."

Rainbow laughed deviously. "Oh-ho, great idea, AJ! I could use a new opponent to crush in Anti-Trust. You think Vinyl's the type to get real into something like that?"

I looked up from my book. Rainbow was sprawled across my couch, her head on Applejack's stomach. Applejack, absorbed in her jigsaw puzzle, didn't seem to be incredibly aware of Rainbow's presence there.

"I think that depends what you mean by 'real into', Rainbow." I turned the page of my book and continued reading.

"Y'know. She a table-flipper? Is she gonna end her friendship with you if you kick her tail at a board game?" Rainbow popped another potato chip in her mouth. "I just don't wanna get excited about game night with Vinyl if she's gonna be a toxic influence on the whole thing. Game night is my safe haven."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, RD," Applejack instructed. "And sit up, for Celestia's sake."

Rainbow made a big show of rolling her eyes and hauling herself up into a sitting position. "So? Whatcha think?"

I squinted at Rainbow over the top of my book. "Do I think Vinyl is an inherently violent mare who will lose control over a board game? No. No, I don't."

Applejack and Rainbow exchanged a look I didn't quite recognize.

"That's nice," Applejack said.

"Nicer than the alternative," I agreed, if a hint sarcastically. I turned another page. "If you girls really want to meet her, we can arrange a game night. I'm sure she'd love it."

"Awesome!" Rainbow pumped a hoof in the air. "AJ's right, we totally cussed out Fresh Scoop over the whole 'homewrecker' thing, we deserve a chance to get to know Vinyl. How does Thursday at 6:30 sound?"

"That's… specific." I lowered my book a bit.

Applejack chuckled. "Th-that's just when Rainbow and I are free."

I narrowed my eyes and looked at both of them. They both looked a bit like they were holding back a sneeze. "I'll ask Vinyl."

"Sweet!" Rainbow popped another chip in her mouth. "I'll bring Swiveler."

"I've got Scramble," Applejack said.

"Okay, sounds nice," I agreed.

A brief, wonderful silence fell over the room.

Rainbow drew in an enormous gasp. "Unless…"

Applejack placed another puzzle piece. She sighed. "Unless what, Rainbow?"

Rainbow looked at me. There was a fire in her eyes, one that I knew I should rightly fear. For one blissful moment, I couldn't quite put the pieces together. Then, like the tide, it all came rushing back. A cider-flavored tide.

Applejack looked up from her puzzle, a similar look of sinking despair in her eyes.

"Oh, no." I began shaking my head vigorously. "No, no, absolutely not!"

"Absolutely yes!" Rainbow spat back. "If Vinyl wants to pal around with you, she's gotta survive--"

"Gay-mageddon?" Vinyl repeated. "No offence, Twi, but that sounds like a bad porno."

"No, no, Game-mageddon. It's a-- well, it's a party game," I explained, tapping my hooves absent-mindedly on the bar.

"That you and your friends invented?" Vinyl seemed to be holding back a chuckle. She sipped her coffee.

I sighed deeply. "We used to have game nights all the time, all six of us. The problem was that each of us would insist on playing the game we were best at, and we'd either never be able to decide or all end up getting crushed by whoever's game we ended up playing."

Vinyl nodded, her brows knit together in serious concentration. "I'm with you so far. What kind of crap were you guys doing in the first place?"

"Well," I missed, tracing my hoof along the top edge of my mug. "Applejack loves truth or dare because she has no filter, but she just ends up embarrassing everypony else. Rainbow Dash is very into physical competitions like Swiveler and wrestling, but always ends up hurting somepony else." I stopped to sip my own coffee. "Trivia Quest was outlawed after what we call 'The Periodic Table Incident'."

"I'm guessing you were instrumental in that one?" Vinyl asked with a smirk.

My cheeks flushed. "Maybe."

"So, you invented…"

"Game-mageddon," I said.

"Right. Game-mageddon," Vinyl repeated. "I'm sorry, there's gotta be a better name for that."

"Believe me, Vinyl, nothing about this is thoughtful in the least." I swiveled my stool to face her more directly. "Applying logic to it will only drive you crazy."

Vinyl nodded, trying not to laugh. "Understood."

"Anyway," I said. "One night, after we'd all gotten drunk on Applejack's cider overstock, we decided that the only way to truly be fair was to play all the games at once."

Vinyl's eyes narrowed. She looked upward, as if the answer were buried somewhere in her own mind, accessible by rolling her eyes back into her skull.

"It all starts with an obstacle course. There's hide-and-seek, trivia, charades, a drinking game--"

"Sounds fun!"

I laughed wryly. "Maybe I should have mentioned the drinking part first."

Vinyl smirked again. "You saying I can't handle my liquor, Twi?"

"Vinyl, listen to me:" I put a hoof on her shoulder. "Nopony can handle that much alcohol. Okay? Nopony."

Despite my seriousness, Vinyl was grinning like a loon. "Can't we just ask them to play a different game? Like… I dunno, Pipes and Ropes? A game of chance, a level playing field?"

"I wish." I shook my head. "They're hazing you. You really don't have to go, I can tell them you're busy."

Vinyl laughed. "Look, I would have to be some kinda grade-A moron to turn down a chance like this."

"A chance to… die of alcohol poisoning?" I suggested.

"Pft, no! A chance to hang out with all six elements of harmony!" Vinyl clapped me on the shoulder. Her hoof lingered there, just for a moment. "I'm sure it'll be fun, no matter what happens."

I groaned quietly.

"I heard that little panic groan," Vinyl teased. "No worries. I've had a lot of crazy nights in my time."

"I… " I shifted in my seat. "I guess that's true. I just don't want you to get the idea that my friends are the out-of-control lunatics they become when they play."

Vinyl waved her hoof dismissively. "Come on. They're-- they're the elements of harmony! Everypony knows the whole group of you is the nicest, mellowest, most family-friendly--"

I laughed once; sharp, short, and sarcastic. "That's just the version they put in the papers. We're all just like you; young adults with uncertain careers and a proclivity for making stupid choices." I cocked an eyebrow at Vinyl. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Vinyl smiled warmly. "They're your friends, Twilight. I'm sure I'll l-- like them. I'm sure I'll like 'em a lot."

"Really?" I asked.

"Totally!" Vinyl shrugged. "As for the hazing, it's only fair. You guys have some kind of crazy magical bond or whatever. If I wanna hang with your crew, they deserve the chance to vet me properly."

"Yeah, but--"

"Bup, bup!" Vinyl put her hoof over my mouth. Her touch was unbelievably gentle. "We're doing this. What time?"

"Six-thirty tomorrow night," I said.

"Perfect!" Vinyl removed her hoof from my mouth. "Tavi's out of town for some debutante thing in Canterlot til Saturday. Or maybe an auction? I dunno. Something long and super boring that needed a string quartet."

I giggled. "Why does Tavi have to be out of town for this?"

"Oh, Celestia, she would try to horn in and get all uptight about it," Vinyl explained. She must have seen the shock in my face, because she blurted out "She's great! Don't get me wrong, she's totally great and all, but she's straight-edge. And when I say she's straight-edge, what I mean is everypony near her had better be straight-edge, or they will suffer her wrath." She laughed awkwardly.

I laughed awkwardly, too. "So… what, she doesn't let you drink?"

Vinyl scoffed. "Hell no. No drinking, no smoking. She's pretty anti-rave, too. Thinks I'm gonna-- well, I dunno what she thinks I'm gonna do, really."

"Oh," I murmured. "I had no idea."

"Ah, it's no biggie." Vinyl waved the thought away and took a large gulp of coffee. "She tolerates it and everything, but you can just tell she's pissed, y'know? She gets all quiet and mom-ish."

"But-- well, isn't that stuff kinda… who you are?" I asked. "That's sounds awful, I meant--

"No, I know what you meant." Vinyl gave me a sympathetic smile. "I like partying and stuff, but don't get it twisted: my thing is music. Any music. And that's Octavia's thing, too."

"Hm." I sipped my coffee.

She hadn't said it. Not directly. It was like a puzzle; she'd laid all the pieces out for me, and now I was left to slot them together.

Music was just about the only thing the two of them had in common.

Thursday night--or, as we had been thinking of it, Game-mageddon Night--had arrived.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were tearing apart the throne room in an effort to build a suitable obstacle course. The mess I expected, but the noise was deafening.

"Girls!" I shouted over the cacophony. "Could we destroy my home a little quieter, please?"

Applejack wound up and kicked over her own chair with a powerful kick.

I winced and pinned my ears against my head.

"Sorry!" Applejack called, though she didn't quite sound it.

"It's fine…" I muttered. I wouldn't even need alcohol for a headache in the morning, it seemed.

A pink blur whizzed past me, and I barely dodged it.

Pinkie skidded to a stop in front of me. "Boop!" she exclaimed, slamming something down over my head. A string snapped up under my chin.

I folded into myself. "Pinkie!" I scrolled, reaching up to remove whatever Pinkie had put over my horn.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Pinkie put her hoof on mine, pressing back down. "Taking off your anti-magic device is cheating!"

"Anti-magic device?" I repeated, practically growling.

Pinkie leaned in close. "It's a party hat lined with tin foil," she hissed, in the cadence of a whisper but the volume of a stage performer. "Don't tell anypony."

"What could I possibly use my magic for?" I spat.

"Dunno!" Pinkie said. "Don't worry, we're tying wings, too!"

With this, she produced a length of rope from her mane, pulling it out hoof-over-hoof like a clown.

"Hey!" I held her at leg's length. "How about I just Pinkie Swear not to use my wings?"

"No way, Twilight," Rainbow called. She paused in her ever-important duty of dragging beanbags down from my study room to show me her wings. "If me and Fluttershy gotta do it, so do you."

"You heard the mare!"

Pinkie rushed me and, before I knew what had happened, my wings were fastened to my side. I pulled against the restraints, but to know avail.

"Seriously?" I was standing like a bill ready to charge. "Fluttershy?"

"I wanted to follow the rules," Fluttershy said from her position behind a large potted plant.

"Fluttershy, darling, we haven't started yet. Why are you hiding?" Rarity chuckled.

Fluttershy shrugged. "Just… checking out the good spots, I guess."

Rarity gave me a look which expressed equal parts worry and pride in Fluttershy's participation. Fluttershy faded back into the shrubbery.

Amid the raucous scene, I almost missed Vinyl's knock at the door. But it was there-- sharp and rhythmic. Part of me thought I might be able to sneak to the door without anypony noticing and greet Vinyl alone. It might lessen the intensity of the night to come, I thought.

But the rest of me knew that such a subtle move could never work.

"She's here!" I shouted.

Everypony quite literally dropped what they were doing and rushed to the door.

I kind of wish I could have seen us through her eyes. Vinyl's entire face lit up as the doors opened, revealing our rag-tag crew and my disheveled castle.

"Uh… hi!" She said.

Everypony started talking at once, all but physically steamrolling over her.

"Surprise!" Pinkie slapped a party hat over Vinyl's horn. "Don't take that off! Pinkie's Patented Anti-Magic Device (patent pending)."

"Ooh, I'll bet whiskey's your drink, isn't it?" Rarity asked. "Whatever you want, we've got it! I'm practically a mixologist."

"Now, remember, Vinyl: whatever you do tonight, the floor is lava!" Rainbow was saying, having slung her foreleg over Vinyl's shoulders. "Touch the floor and you're dead!"

"Do you have any pets, Vinyl?" Fluttershy asked timidly. "Oh, nevermind. Just stick with me tonight, I'll show you all the good hiding places in the castle!"

"Twilight tells us you're a real stand-up mare," Applejack said. "Don't make a liar outta her tonight."

Despite the overwhelming flood of information, Vinyl took it all in stride. I watched from afar as she nodded and smiled at each one of my friends, looking into their eyes with a mix of wonder and blossoming friendship. It made my own heart swell with joy.

Amidst the clamour, she locked eyes with me. The way she smiled… small and understated, but entirely genuine. She was almost glowing.

I think I smiled back. All I know is that my hooves were bolted to the floor, and my cheeks were burning.

The group rolled in towards me from the door like a wave, endlessly churning over itself, but with Vinyl planted at the center.

Then she was in front of me, flanked on all sides by my friends. They had mysteriously fallen silent.

"Hey," Vinyl said. "Y'know, if you'd warned me, I coulda brought my own headgear."

I giggled.

"Alright!" Rainbow stomped her hoof authoritatively. "Every Game-mageddon night starts with a bottle of Applejack's cider, so let's not waste time!"

Rarity scoffed. "That has got to be the first time I've heard Rainbow Dash say that."

Rainbow ignored the snide comment and zipped over to the alcohol zone, a space Rarity had prepared at the back of the throne room. She tore into a case of cider like a rabid animal and held up the first bottle.

"Take yer bottle and get on the table!" she instructed with the volume and authority of an auctioneer.

Applejack was the first to take one. She popped the top and let the bottle cap clatter to the floor. I knew better than to argue. She then got a running start and leapt up onto the roundtable at the center of the room.

For every strange thing that happened, Vinyl was looking only at me. I'm sure she just wanted to see if anything would push me over the edge.

Fluttershy was next in line. She took the bottle hesitatingly, holding it from the top as if direct contact might burn her. She clambered up onto the table like an uncoordinated fawn.

Each pony took a bottle and joined Applejack at the center of the massive table. The whole lot of them were sort of murmuring and chuckling and sipping their drinks very casually. Applejack kept stealing glances at me, as did Rarity. I couldn't help but feel that a new rule was about to be introduced to our game.

At last, Rainbow held out a bottle each to me and Vinyl.

"Are you sure we should all be standing on the table like that?" Vinyl asked. "Isn't it, like. Magic, or something?"

I scoffed. "Or something."

"Oh, like anypony can reach the center, anyway. Totally wasted space!" Rainbow said. She popped the top of her bottle, and her cap rolled across the floor to some unknown location.

"Rainbow, I'm a unicorn!" I exclaimed, gesturing broadly to my horn and the table.

"So?"

"So, I can reach anything!" I stomped one hoof.

Rainbow shrugged. "Not my problem, take it up with the Queen of the Obstacle Course."

"That's you!" I stomped two hooves.

She shrugged again, giving me a sly look that said 'ah, at last, you remember what it's like to play The Game. Welcome to hell.' Or something like that, I guess.

Despite her restrained wings, Rainbow leapt up onto the table with ease.

I looked at Vinyl. "I'm so sorry. This is--"

"Amazing?" Vinyl finished for me.

She held out her bottle for a 'cheers'. I obliged. Our bottles clinked together.

"Hurry up, y'all!" Applejack called. "Or we'll do the countoff without you!"

Vinyl and I exchanged another look, then moved towards the table together.

We stood there, the seven of us, in a little ring, all holding a bottle of bronze and bubbling liquid. I nudged Vinyl a little bit. She winked at me.

"So… sorry, what exactly are the rules of the game?" Vinyl asked.

I would have smacked my forehead with my hoof, but I didn't have a spare.

Everypony in the circle erupted at once, shouting all kinds of conflicting instructions at a frankly obscene volume.

"So you'll start here at the obstacle course, make your way across the elemental chairs in descending age order--"

"--if you want to break the curse, you'll have to hide in a cave for 5 minutes, self-policed of course--"

"--to get a drink (and, believe me, you'll want one, darling) you have to shout out a trivia category and--"

"--every fifteen minutes, everypony has to drop where they are and do one round truth or dare--"

"--themed charades categories get you plus ten points when you advance to the trivia lightning round--"

"--answering a truth with a lie gets you sent to the dungeon, which is--"

"--and then if you find everypony who's hiding, you win!"

"Oh! And don't forget:" Rainbow warned.

"The floor is lava!" we all shouted in unison.

It had at last dawned on Vinyl what exactly she had signed up for. Her eyes were wide with confusion, her face drained of what little yellow undertone it had once had. "I'm sorry, did somepony say this could go on til midnight?"

Pinkie laughed. "We'll be lucky if it's that short!"

"What?!"

"Let's raise this barn, y'all!" Applejack said, holding up her cider bottle.

"1, 2, 3, 4!" we changed, stomping our hooves on each number.

Then everypony tipped back their bottles and began to drink as fast as they could

Vinyl was still frozen in confusion.

I took a huge gulp of cider. "Drink!" I told her. "Don't be last!"

"What happens if I--"

I jabbed her in the side with my elbow. She began to chug the cider like it was water in the desert.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were already racing each other around the room, leaping from overturned throne to expertly-placed beanbag with reckless abandon.

"Sports!" Rainbow shouted.

I gasped for air. "First professional hoofball to speak at the National--"

"Victory Lap!" Rainbow screamed. "Ha, you're frozen, AJ!"

Applejack dutifully stopped her racing and stood, looking furious, on a violet cushion in the middle of the floor.

Vinyl threw down her bottle. "Now what?!" She was looking frazrd, but also kind of excited.

I threw mine down, too. "Chairs!"

Vinyl skittered across the shimmering surface of the roundtable and launched herself into the nearest throne. She landed in a way that must have knocked every ounce of wind from her lungs. She weazed deeply.

"Go right!" I told her.

"Okay…" Vinyl hauled herself back onto her hooves. "What was… somepony said something about age order?"

"Just go right!" I yelled.

She did as instructed and made another flying leap to a nearby pillow. She was laughing a bit now.

I followed her quickly.

"Twi, entertainment!" Pinkie screamed from an unknown location.

"Who published the first Power--"

"Smudged Ink! Woo-hoo!" Pinkie came flying down from the top of the stairwell and careening under the roundtable.

"Dare!" Rarity called.

"Lick your elbow!" Dash instructed.

"That's not possible and you know it!" Rarity complained.

"Then drink!" Rainbow commanded.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh, no… whatever shall I do… another drink…" She trotted quickly over to her stash and found a case of wine coolers.

"Twilight!" Vinyl shouted. She was several obstacles ahead of me. "Am I supposed to pick a category?"

"Question! Question!" Pinkie pointed at Vinyl accusingly. "She's cursed now!"

"I'm cursed?!" Vinyl repeated. "The fuck does that mean?!"

"Hide!" I shouted.

Vinyl was off like a shot, jumping from chair to beanbag to throne, and finally onto the steps leading up to the eastern wing of the castle. I watched her go with the whisper of laughter on my ragged breath.

Then a feeling came over me. "Hey, how long is it until the curse is broken again?

"Question!" Pinkie shouted. "Curse!"

I grinned, shrugged, and followed Vinyl's path upstairs.

The first room in the eastern wing was my bedroom, funnily enough. I had closed the door when the preparation started. It stood open now.

I slunk into the room and shut the door behind me. The room was cloaked in near total darkness. "Vinyl?" I whispered.

Something moved under the bed. "Twilight? That's you, right?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. "It's me."

Vinyl shifted a bit under the bed. "I don't have to come out, do I?"

I laughed. "No, I wouldn't make you do that."

"Oh. Cool." She paused. "Breaking the rules for me, eh, Princess?"

I rolled my eyes, though I doubt she could see it in the dark. "Mind if I join you?"

"Nah, come on down." More sound as Vinyl shifted to her side.

I trotted to my bed and bent down to peer under it. In the dark, I couldn't quite tell what was Vinyl and what was space. I reached up and took off my party hat, then lit my horn.

Vinyl was on her stomach under my bed. She looked up at me. "Oh, I know you didn't just take off your Pinkie's Patented Anti-Magic Device, Princess. I will narc on you."

I giggled. "I'm totally following the rules."

"And which rule is this?" Vinyl asked.

I blushed. "The 'I'll do what I want to hang out with Vinyl Scratch' rule."

Vinyl grinned. I thought I saw a touch of blush in her own cheeks. "Good rule."

I crouched down and backed into the space beside Vinyl. She seemed to take a sharp breath in as I did this, flexing her sides to keep from pressing into me. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.

"I'm sorry, Vinyl. I really should have tried to talk them into something different."

"You're kidding, right?" Vinyl turned her head to look at me. "Look: is this the most scared I've ever been? Totally. Is it also the best night I've ever had? One-hundred percent."

"Tsk, now I know you're lying."

"I am not!" Vinyl laughed. "I dunno what it is that makes you think your friends are weird or intense or whatever, but they're literally the coolest ponies in Equestria. And they wanna hang out with me? They wanna drink with me and play crazy, life-threatening games with me? That's literally the best night I could ask for, Twi."

I smiled.

Vinyl reached over and wrapped her foreleg around my barrel.

I stopped smiling.

Then I started again. Secretly.

"I'm really, really lucky you agreed to go with Rainbow that night."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Vinyl squeezed me tight. "You're the best."

We were quiet for a moment. My heart was beating fast and hard as a drum, and all the way up in my throat. I could feel the bees buzzing about in my stomach. Surprisingly, the alcohol had not drowned them.

A sudden noise caused me and Vinyl to shrink further into the depth of the bed. Vinyl's hoof withdrew from my flank.

I looked at Vinyl.

Was that the door? she mouthed.

I nodded.

A shadow passed over us. Then again, in the other direction.

Then Rarity's face was even with ours. "Ah-ha! Illegal alliance!"

I buried my face in my hooves.

"That doesn't sound good," Vinyl said.

The distant sounds of clattering hooves were quickly approaching. Soon, all five of my friends were standing over us, all them with a difficult-to-read expression. Curiosity? Discovery? Vengefulness?

"Um, what exactly do we do with an illegal alliance?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, we…" Rarity looked at Rainbow Dash. "We, er--"

"We're gonna put you on trial!" Rainbow said.

"We are?" Pinkie asked.

"Th-that's right!" Applejack said. "So choose, traitors: truth or dare?"

Vinyl wiggled out from under the bed. Everypony took a few steps back to allow her the space. "That's it? We do a truth or a dare, and that's it?"

"Uh…" Applejack looked at Rarity. "No, we, uh…"

"Oh!" Rarity's eyes lit up. "One of you tells the truth, one of you does a dare!"

Vinyl and I looked at each other.

"You wanna--"

"You should take--"

With both stopped, giggled a bit. It was all for fun, after all.

"You first," I said. "You're the guest."

"You sure?" Vinyl asked.

I nodded.

"Alright, then. I'll pick, uh…" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I'll go with truth."

"Who's the last pony you slept with?" Pinkie Pie blurted, all but squealing over her own question.

Vinyl frowned. "Octavia. My marefriend. Who I live with."

"Pinkie!" Rainbow scolded. "Come on!"

Pinkie giggled. "Sorry!"

Applejack smacked her forehead with one hoof. "Alright, alright. You pass."

"Cool." Vinyl nodded.

The group turned to me. Applejack's eyes were glittering mischievously, as we're Rainbow Dash's. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both looked as if they would explode if they were told not to speak for another second. Rarity was chewing on her lip.

"Twilight. A punishment to fit the crime…" Applejack said, drawing the words out as long as possible. She stroked her chin with one hoof, gazing up at the ceiling. "Alright. You like Vinyl so much? Kiss her."

My heart dropped into my hooves, then shot back up behind my eyes. I tried to say something, but my lips moved silently.

Rainbow Dash laughed and punched Applejack's shoulder. "Nice thinking, AJ!"

Applejack nodded sagely.

Vinyl looked at me, eyes wide. "What-- no, no! Th-that's--"

"We'll leave you two alone!" Rarity sang.

The crowd scrambled out the door and slammed it shut.

Vinyl and I threw ourselves against the inside of the door. It rattled but did not open.

"Let us out!" I shouted. "This is stupid!"

"Y-yeah!" Vinyl added. "Totally stupid, pick a different dare!"

The girls on the other side giggled. They could be so immature sometimes.

Vinyl slid down onto the floor, looking distant, her back against the door. The juxtaposition of her apparent misery against the pink-and-green polka-dotted party hat almost made me laugh out loud. "You were right."

"Hm?"

Vinyl chuckled wryly. "You were right, your friends are lunatics. I've been here for less than ten minutes."

I sat down beside Vinyl. "But… good lunatics, right?"

Vinyl was silent.

"I'm sorry. I think I should've laid out some ground rules." I shifted my wings inside the restraints. "I think the girls can get a little over-excited when it comes to new ponies. They just want you to feel like you're a part of the group."

"This is being part of the group?" Vinyl asked.

I laughed. "Haven't you ever had girl friends?"

Vinyl shrugged. "I guess… I dunno, most ponies in my line of work are dudes. They can get weird sometimes, but-- well, there's never been kissing."

I sighed lightly.

"I mean, I'd do it," Vinyl said.

I looked at her. My heart thudded. "You would?"

"Well-- but it would be super weird, right?"

"R-right… definitely."

Vinyl shuffled her hooves a bit. In the quiet, we could hear the girls on the other side murmuring and giggling. Vinyl looked over her shoulder at the door.

She turned to me. "Just go with me, okay?" she whispered.

"Huh?"

"Oh!" Vinyl shouted. "Oh, she did it! Twilight kissed me!"

"She did not!" Pinkie shouted.

"Did too!" I argued. I pounded a hoof on the door.

"Well, what did her mouth taste like?" Pinkie asked.

I spluttered, my cheeks burning. "Like a mouth! What do you think? Let us out!"

"Not buyin' it!" Applejack shouted.

They all giggled again.

"Ugh!" I folded my legs over my chest tightly, like I was trying to hold myself together. "Doesn't really seem right to be playing these games after what happened last week."

Vinyl looked over at me. "Hey. No."

I looked back. Our locked eyes together.

"You're giving those drama hounds too much credit," Vinyl said. Her eyes were dark and focused. "Why do you care so much what they say, anyway? Last week they said that Princess Celestia was pregnant by some member of the Royal Guard, and nopony believed that.”

“Because, this time it’s--” I put my hoof over my mouth to stop myself from speaking. Or crying. Or both. “I just--”

“Hey, hey!” Vinyl wrapped her foreleg around my shoulders and pulled me in for a hug. “Look, I didn't mean what I said about your friends. They're awesome. I'm sure they cooked up all of to help you forget that stupid gossip. Right?"

"I guess." I sniffled. "Pretty stupid way to do that,” I spat.

Vinyl shrugged. “I think they just wanna show you that it-- you know, it doesn’t matter. It’s all just silly, out-of-context stuff that doesn’t mean anything.”

Doesn’t mean anything?

Anything?

“In fact, let’s just do it,” Vinyl said. She withdrew her hoof from my back. “Y’know, just get it over with.”

Get it over with?

My heart was pounding so heart I thought my ribs would shatter. The echoing giggles of my friends from the other side of the door sounded so far away they may as well have been on another planet.

Vinyl shifted so that her shoulder was against the door.

Gosh, the floor in here is hard. My butt hurts and I’ve only been sitting here for a few minutes. I think. Or has it been longer? It could’ve been an hour. Could have been days, and I wouldn’t have noticed. Oh, Celestia, what could my friends be thinking right now? Do they know? Do they know I like her?

“Should we?” Vinyl asked.

“Uh…” It was so hot. Hot and stifling, like the club. And now the giggles were so loud, thrumming like the bassline of that horrible music. No-- the beautiful music. Her music. “I, uh…”

Vinyl chuckled. “They’re not gonna let us out ‘til we do.”

She was so close. So close I could see every little strand of fur on her snout. Could see the way it rippled along her throat as she spoke, swallowed, breathed. So close I could see the shimmering flecks of pink in her ruby-red eyes. So close I could see the tiny, almost imperceptible motions of her eyebrows as she wondered what I was thinking.

What was I thinking?

I was thinking I wanted it.

But not this. Not now, not this time. This wasn’t what I wanted, this wasn’t how I wanted it, it couldn’t happen like this it couldn’t!

“No! Not like this!” I shouted.

Silence.

My friends’ laughter stopped on a dime. All I could hear was the rushing of my own blood through my ears, and the frantic beating of my heart.

“Twilight, I--”

I shot to my hooves. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-- I just meant that-- It’s just-- y’know? I mean we shouldn’t do-- because then that would be-- right? That’s right, right?”

Vinyl stared at me, her mouth slightly agape. “I’m… I don’t…”

I stared at her a moment longer. The look on her face was entirely impenetrable. It could have meant anything in the world.

“You know what?” I said. “I’m just gonna get some air.”

Like the flick of a switch, everything went away. Panic had tripped over into full-blown fugue. I felt as if I was floating above the castle, watching myself use magic to remove the ropes around my wings. I walked over to the window and opened it into the evening air.

All of this, and it wasn’t even seven o’clock.

Somewhere, distantly, Vinyl was still trying to talk to me. All I could hear was a sort of warm and muffled sound. Like the music from outside the club. Or like when I was wearing her ear plugs.

I leapt gracefully from the window and coasted to the ground. I heard Vinyl shout something and run to the window after me, but she had no hope of following.

When I reached the ground, it struck me that I had no place to go. All of my friends were inside, my brother was in another time zone…

So I trotted back around to the front and rang the bell to be let in.

Fluttershy opened the door.

“Hi, Fluttershy,” I said.

“Twilight, we didn’t mean--”

“I think it’s time everypony went home,” I said. “It’s getting late.”

“It’s not even dark out,” Rainbow complained, her head poking up from behind Fluttershy’s.

“I’m tired,” I said.

“Twilight,” Applejack said, her voice coming from a blond tuft of hair back behind the others. “You know we were only joking, right?”

“You wouldn’t let me out of my room!” I said, stomping my hoof on the ground. I took a deep breath, and let it out slow. “I’m okay. I just need to go to bed”

The girls stood still for a moment, all huddled together in my doorway. They had tried to fix things. I could see that. It may have been a horribly misguided attempt at fixing things, but still an attempt.

It was no big deal.

Nopony cared.

Nopony even remembered.

They filed out one by one, leaving Vinyl standing alone in my foyer. She made a face at me that I couldn’t decipher.

“I overthink things,” I said.

“I know.”

“I wasn’t trying to--”

“Twilight.” Vinyl smiled, though it seemed to be a pitying smile. “It’s okay. It’s nice that those sorts of things mean so much to you, y’know?”

Nice?

“Uh-huh.”

Vinyl sighed. Something about it seemed half-finished. “I’ll see ya later.”

“Okay.”

She walked past me, taking a little detour as she neared to leave me a bubble of personal space. Too far away to reach out and touch. Even like a friend might.

I had been so close.

Holiday

It has been four-and-a-half weeks since The Game Night Incident.

Another incident to add to my list.

I'd like to say that I spent all that time doing something really amazing and romantic, or maybe out meeting other ponies and getting over… whatever it was I in, I guess. And, if I couldn't say that, I'd like to say that time stopped, and I watched the weeks go by from my window, weary and lovesick.

But time waits for nopony.

Life went back to normal. I stopped seeing Vinyl cold turkey after that. Didn't feel right about dropping by like I'd gotten used to doing. And she didn't reach out to me to try to remedy that, so I figured that was what she wanted. I went back to doing princess-y things and tried to be myself.

It worked for a while. I was helping other ponies. It was nice.

But now it was winter. It had snowed last night, and the world looked like it was all tucked in under a warm, fluffy blanket. A part of me wishes I had just gone ahead and burrowed underground after game night. Then I could still be snoozing peacefully under all this snow. A nice, drama-free hibernation.

More importantly, the holidays were right around the corner. And now I was snowed in.

Distractionless.

Destitute.

"Spike?" I called, the lethargy seeping into my voice perhaps more than I intended. "Where are you?"

"Study room!" Spike replied. His voice echoed down the long, cavernous halls of the castle.

I moaned softly. A long walk. Too long in the cold.

I pulled my quilt up over my face and slid deeper into my cocoon. Nopony could find me here! I was safe and warm in the dark. No Hearth's Warming. No kisses. No marefriends of ex-marefriends or homewreckers or weirdness. Just darkness; cozy, warm, and soft…

Ugh. Even the thought of hiding away made me feel sick. The curse of being a fixer, I suppose.

I peeked a hesitant eye out from under the covers. I'm not totally sure what I thought I would see, but I determined the coast to be clear and sat up.

It was cold. Cold and stoney. It even smelled cold and stoney. I hated living in this place sometimes. Cold in this castle was a totally different monster than cold in the tree.

My hooves fell into my lap. I stared at the wall for a while, trying to let my body acclimate to the cold, but still feeling wholly uncomfortable. My eyelids drooped. My wings dropped. I felt… droopy.

"Twilight, did you want something, or…?"

"Oh!" I tugged my blankets back up to my neck. "Spike, I'm sorry. I was going to come to you."

Spike looked me up and down. "Right. What do you want?"

I sighed. "I need to do something in the spirit of the season, Spike. I haven't been feeling very… festive this year."

"Mm-hm."

"What can we do around the castle today?" I asked.

Spike's eyes lit up. "Oh! We could put up lights outside!"

"Outside?" I repeated. "But it's so cold!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "We could put up lights inside."

I sighed. "I don't like having lights up inside. Then at night I have to run all around the castle and turn all the lights off. I usually forget, though, and then I wake up in the middle of the night thinking everything is going to burn down and--"

"Twilight!" Spike stopped my rambling. "What do you want to do today?"

I thought about it. What other holiday things were there to do? Cocoa-drinking? Tree-trimming? Gift-giving? Carol-singing?

Gifts!

"Oh! We should plan out gifts for the girls!" I smiled. "I think I have a good start on a few of them, but I may need to call around for ideas… will you help?"

Spike folded his claws behind his back. "Can I put my name on the gift tag?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Sure."

Spike grinned. "Then, sure! I can help you brainstorm. I was thinking something big and really sparkly for Rarity."

I smiled. "I'm sure she'd love that." I rolled out of bed. My joints clicked and popped like a bowl of rice cereal. "Come on, Spike; let's go to my office."

Spike jogged behind me on the way down the hall.

This would be good.

Do something nice, something selfless.

Buy your friends some gifts.

I skidded to a halt. Spike bumped into my back leg.

He took a step back, rubbing his head. "Hey, what's the hold up, Twi?"

"It's Hearth's Warming," was all I could say, my voice breathless and paper-thin.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Spike grumbled.

I turned to look at Spike. "Vinyl!"

"Oh, Celestia, not this again…" Spike put a claw to his forehead.

"Again?!" I repeated. "I haven't thought about this once! This is-- this is-- I dunno what it is!"

"Can we talk about it in your office?" Spike asked.

"Do I get her a gift?" I asked myself aloud. "This could be the perfect opportunity to make up for… everything. Or should I leave her alone? We haven't spoken in weeks, would it be creepy? If I don't get her something, will that end it all for good? Will she think that I hate her?"

Spike tapped his chin with one claw. "Oh! You know who'd be super helpful?"

"Who?" I asked, perhaps a little too excitedly.

"Princess Cadance!" Spike replied. His voice had the familiar timbre of a game show host; fake excitement, double-dipped in crowd-pleasing niceness. "The Princess of Friendship and the Princess of Love? This has you two written all over it!"

I couldn't help but feel condescended to. But I didn't care!

"Spike, you're a genius!" I rubbed the top of his head with one hoof.

"You can thank me later."

Spike's suave grin and dismissive claw wave were all the goodbye I got. I guess with Rarity off the table he had just lost interest.

No time to be hurt! Gotta call Cadance!

I galloped down the hall towards the pool room. Cadance was always there for me when I needed her. So was Shining Armor, of course… but his presence didn't necessarily make a problem any more solved than it had been before. He was mostly just good for a hug and some words of encouragement, no matter what the problem was.

Around the corner and into the pool room, my hooves flew over the shimmering floors. I leapt into my seat, skimmed a feather over the water's surface, and began to think of Cadance.

Those big, kind eyes. Hey warm voice, telling me not to worry, telling me to stay calm and focused. The way she embraced me with her wings from time to time…

The water glowed green.

I wiggled in anticipation, every word of my problem resting on the tip of my tongue. I was more than a little worried that I'd be incapable of comprehensible speech when she picked up.

The water was still green.

And yet, no Cadance.

I let out a breath that I hadn't known I was holding. Unavailable.

"Shoot!"

Well, nothing to do but wait!

Wait a few minutes, then try again.

I leaned back into the couch cushions.

How could I possibly explain it all to her?

Did she know anything about Vinyl, other than the fact that I'd once asked for her name? I couldn't remember bringing her up in front of Cadance or Shining Armor… so, unless the Princess was fond of tabloids, I doubt she'd caught wind of anything.

I'd better practice. Get all the words right for the next time she picks up.

I tried to conjure something forth. Anything. But the thoughts were like a tangled-up stormcloud of feelings without words attached to them. Just shapes and colors and faces and specific, pointed types of pain and torment. If I could just push the cloud over Cadance's head, just for a second, maybe she'd understand.

Did it start in the club?

No. That was clearly friendship.

With the letter, then?

No, no. More like… awe. She had treated me like a celebrity.

The speakeasy?

Definitely not. That was very clearly two friends enjoying some coffee together. A very friend-y thing to do.

Was it when I'd come to her house?

No, right?

Game night, then?

It couldn't have been… that was all for friends, just friends.

I closed my eyes, trying to divide my thoughts into a nice, neat Venn diagram.

Alright. "Friends" on the left, "Romance" on the right, mysteries in the middle.

The night in the club. Plenty of ponies go to clubs because they like the music and the drinks. But… plenty of ponies also go to the club looking for a one-night stand. Vinyl was nice to me. Not crazy nice, but more than just "I ran into you at the club" nice.

I'll just put the club in the middle part.

The letter. Definitely a normal, friendly thing to do! Even more normal when you consider that I've become a bit of a celebrity, and some ponies will always try to shoot their shot at fame if a famous pony is around. That said, many ponies also got celebrity crushes. In fact, it could be argued that more ponies have celebrity crushes than would ever want to be famous themselves.

Another for the middle section.

The speakeasy.

Oh, boy…

As I was thinking it over, the room was suddenly bathed in an unmistakable blue light. The quiet tinkling of magic bounced off every wall.

"Cadance?" I asked hopefully.

“Twilight! I thought it must have been you who called,” Cadance said. I could almost see her smile. “How are you?”

“I’m-- I’m okay!” I said. “Are you snowed in there?”

“Snowed into the city,” Cadance said. “But I’ve got a spell up to keep it from getting too wintry inside city limits. The market’s in its last two weeks, so we need to make sure it stays open.”

“Oh.”

“But you are, huh?” Cadance asked.

I took a deep breath, intending to respond, but instead let out a long and tortured sigh.

“Uh-oh. I know that sound.” Her voice had dropped in pitch, but was still just as warm and loving. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s… hard to explain,” I said. I breathed in. Breathed out. I ran my hoof along the cushion’s stitching. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately. About… I dunno.”

Cadance giggled. “Okay…”

I sighed again, sliding down low in my seat. “Do you think we’re a lot alike?” I asked.

“I think that depends what you mean,” Cadance said.

I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see it. “A lot of ponies say it. That we’re very similar.”

Cadance was quiet for a moment. “I can see why they would say that. I think we both have a tendency to put the needs of others before ourselves. We were definitely very similar when we were young… which wasn’t always a good thing.” She laughed. “I think we both made life a little harder on ourselves than it needed to be as foals.”

I giggled. “Maybe a little.”

“And, of course, there’s the obvious,” Cadance said. “Princess stuff.”

“Yeah, princess stuff,” I agreed.

We were quiet for a while. I could hear soft sounds of snuffling and motion from the other end of the phone.

“Alright, be honest: what’s this about?” Cadance asked. “You sound more worried than usual. I promise Shining isn’t in the room, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I… did something I’m not proud of. And I have a friend that… well, I’m just not sure where we stand, now. But, with the holidays coming up…”

“I see,” Cadance said. Her princess voice was sneaking in a bit. “A friend, you said?”

“Maybe a friend,” I said. “Maybe… something else.”

Cadance was quiet. “Right.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I think those other ponies are definitely right.”

“What do you mean?”

Cadance chuckled. “When they say you and I are a lot alike. Friendship, love… it can get tangled up sometimes, can’t it?”

I didn’t say anything.

“One truth that I have always held onto is that love, real love, is always built upon friendship.” Cadance cleared her throat. “If you aren’t friends with your partner, then… well, I don’t know how you could live that way, to be frank. The number one thing you should have in common is that you like each other. That you like each other’s company. That you’re always happy to see them come home.”

“Yeah…” I murmured wistfully.

“So, if you don’t know where you stand… maybe you should do something to tell them,” Cadance suggested. “This might be your chance.”

I shifted in my seat. “That’s what you did with Shining Armor, right?”

Cadance laughed. “Wow, you’ve got a good memory! Yes, I don’t think Shining Armor ever would have gotten up the courage to ask me out on his own. But don’t tell him I said that.”

I giggled. “Deal.”

“I think other ponies tend to think of us as… unobtainable. Something to do with the horn and the wings, I’ll bet.”

“Princess stuff?”

“Princess stuff. Definitely princess stuff.”

I sighed. “Okay. I think I know what I have to do.”

“Yeah?”

I smiled. “Yeah. Thanks, Caddy.”

“Promise to update me?” Cadance begged.

I chuckled. “Pinkie promise.”

“Bye, Twilight.”

“Bye.”

The light from the pool faded slowly, and I was left alone in the darkened room.

I knew exactly what I had to do: tell Vinyl that I had no idea what to do.

It was only fair. I was confused and alone and new to all of this; I just wanted to know what was going on inside her head! But, as long as she wasn’t talking to me, that couldn’t happen.

I got up from the couch and to the door, closing it softly behind me.

I knew next to nothing about music.

That’s important. I like to sing, sure! Who doesn’t? But as far as actually writing music, or… or understanding music, I was very far behind what Vinyl might expect.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered is that I liked music. And she liked music.

I honestly don’t even know why I had a keyboard. Lucky coincidence, I guess. The thing was tucked between my desk and the wall, its top edge covered with dust, its keys likely never pressed.

I played a note.

The tone was… poor. I doubt the keyboard was in the best shape after sitting unplayed for so long.

And yet…

I played a simple chord.

It reminded me of her. Stable. Bright.

Another. What was that I’d read so long ago? One, four, five, six? One, six, four, five? Something about chords or progressions or notes or--

Bright, low, question, answer. I could hear it in my mind, the way the chords tangled into one another. A song in and of itself, right there: warm, dark, seeking, finding. One, six, five, four. Hope, defeat, tension, resolution. One, six, five, four. One, six, five, four.

And the words bubbled up from inside me before I knew it, whispered gently. “It’s like writing a song… where the lyrics are wrong…”

Right there. Had always been there.

Like magic.

In a panic, I began to dig through my desk drawers, singing all the while.

“The tune is a mess…”

It was here somewhere!

“A work in progress…”

Ah-ha!

I slammed the tape recorder down on my desk. A new favorite of mine for taking notes-- how perfect was that?

I hit record.

And the music came.

You're a super cool pony
With a winning smile
And I wanna let you know
That I've missed you a while

I don't think I'll ever get it right
Much to my dismay
What the right thing is to do
Or say

It's like writing a song
Where the lyrics are wrong
And the tune is a mess
Just a work in progress

I can't make it rhyme
No matter how hard I try
I keep screwing up
I just can't measure up
To you

I stopped the recording and sat back in my chair, trying desperately to catch my breath from my solo. The energy was still coursing through me, but the music was there. Was there forever. A kind of permanent magic.

It wasn’t perfect.

But, then, neither was I.

Author's Note

Sorry the update took so long today, but I actually have a really good reason (headphones required) :raritywink:

If

Hearth’s Warming had come and gone.

It felt like just yesterday that I had snuck over to her home and slipped the tiny package into the mail slot; just big enough for a single tape cassette, made from thick, cream-colored paper. I had written her name on it, all-caps, in a thick, dark marker. I had toyed with the idea of adding something else… but I knew she would know. She would hear my voice and know.

And still I sat. Hearing nothing. My apology disregarded, my heart breaking.

She had not given me a gift.

It was so final… our last exchange had been a terse goodbye, and now my magic had been dropped through a mailslot and forgotten.

I couldn't even remember the words to the song.

"Twilight, come on," Spike said, rubbing my shoulder gingerly. "You can't just sit here all day! Why don't you go outside for a bit?"

My chin was resting on the window sill, and I stared out at the world with the longing of a military wife waiting on the homefront. Everything was grey. The sky was grey. The snow was grey. Even the light of the sun looked grey.

"Cold…" I moaned.

"It might make you feel better," Spike said.

I sighed deeply. "What if I run into her, Spike?"

Spike shrugged. "Then… well, I dunno. You could say hi?"

I put my hooves over my eyes and moaned loudly. I think I heard a flock of birds take off in the distance.

Spike sighed. "Nevermind…"

He removed his claw from my shoulder. I thought that he was going to leave, but I was pleasantly surprised by the feeling of his scaly side snuggling against mine. I opened one eye and saw that he was nestled in beside me, looking just as forlorn, his chin beside mine.

I wrapped my wing around him and gave him a light squeeze.

"I'm sorry, Spike."

"It's okay. I could always go out and play with Applebloom and everyone if I really wanted to." He reached up to hang onto the windowsill with both claws, one on either side of his chin.

"Aw, you're not staying inside for me, are you?" I nuzzled his cheek.

"Hey, quit it!" He shooed me away, hiding a smile. "And… of course, Twilight. What else is a little brother for, huh?"

I giggled, pulling him in closer with my wing. He didn't protest.

We stayed like this for a while, just looking out at the post-holiday world. It was always quietest these few days after Hearth's Warming, I thought; everypony was inside with their family, reading a new book, listening to a new record… there was no real reason to venture out. Even the weather had shut down, as the weather factory pegasi were home enjoying their days off.

But… there were still fillies running through the snow banks, new sleds in tow. There were still siblings and friends out having snowball fights.

So many huge smiles.

"You know what?" I said, sitting up a little straighter. "I think you're right. We should go outside."

"Yeah?" Spike's eyes lit up.

I smiled and nodded. "Let's go to Sweet Apple Acres together, okay? You can meet up with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and I'll spend some time with Applejack. She always gets so stressed around the holidays."

"Hey, great idea!" Spike pushed off from the windowsill and jumped down to the floor, beaming all the way. "I'll bet Applejack will have some good advice for you, too. Things have been going really well with her and Rainbow Dash, after all."

"Good point…" I murmured. "Wait-- what?!"

"Yeah, a few months," Applejack said, dipping her hooves back into the water in the sink. "Sorry, Twi, I thought everypony knew."

"Not me!"

Applejack chuckled. "No offense, sugarcube, but I think you may only have yourself to blame for this one. We haven't been keeping it a secret, after all."

I sighed. "But you girls, of all ponies, should know that I can't pick up on little cues like that! I need to be told. Explicitly."

Applejack was all-out laughing now. "Alright, alright, I s'pose that's more than fair. I'll be sure to tell you the next time something big happens."

"Well, good." I folded my forelegs over my chest. "You'd better."

Applejack only chuckled, still scrubbing dishes as if nothing had changed. It had been so easy for her! So easy I hadn't even noticed!

I sighed. "Applejack?"

Applejack returned the sigh. "Yes, Twilight?"

"If…" I started. My courage died out with the word, and so I tried again. "Okay. Hypothetically: if I wanted… if I wanted what you and Rainbow Dash have…"

Applejack did not look at me, did not speak. Just kept washing dishes. Giving me the space to organize my thoughts.

"How… how did you two get together?" I asked tentatively. A different question, but one that would hopefully get me the answer I was looking for.

"Oh, you don't wanna hear about that," Applejack said. "You really don't."

"What are you talking about? Of course I do!" I insisted.

"No, no." Applejack looked over her shoulder at me. "You don't."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Applejack. Of course I wanna hear about it. You guys are my friends."

Applejack took a deep breath. She turned to face me, her eyes narrowed, her brows knitted. "Well, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and I were wrestlin' one day, and she kinda--" Applejack motioned with her hoof to show the grip Rainbow had used "--grabbed me like this, and I made a certain kinda sound, and then she grabbed me a little harder, and then--"

"Okay!" I waved away Applejack with one hoof. "I-- I see the-- yep!"

Applejack smirked and returned to her casual standing position. She didn't say 'I told you so' in so many words, but the smug look on her face and the lazy way she leaned back against the sink said it for her.

"So, you…" I paused, cleared my throat. Applejack's eyebrows jumped. "You just… and then, you were together?"

Applejack shrugged. "We've been tight for a while now. All said and done, it was easy to go from friends to something more. We're compatible and we like each other."

"And… that's it?" I asked.

"Yeah," Applejack said. "What else does there have to be?"

I slammed my head down on her kitchen table.

"Oh. I think I see what this is about."

I moaned into the kitchen table.

"This can't seriously be the first time you've had a crush on somepony, right?"

"It's not a crush!" I insisted. "It's… I'm just trying to figure out where I stand with her. I mean, there was that whole thing at game night, then I sent her a Hearth's Warming gift that she never reciprocated… I haven't talked to her in almost two months."

"Mm-hm."

"And, by the way, if this was a crush… it wouldn't be my first crush," I mumbled.

"Oh, wouldn't it?" Applejack teased.

I sighed. "When I was in Celestia's school, I… dated a colt for a while, no big deal."

"Twilight!" Applejack exclaimed. "How come this is the first I'm hearin' of this?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. It wasn't long or serious or anything."

Applejack chuckled. It was the closest to giddy I'd ever heard her. "What was his name?"

"F-Flash…"

"Flash?!"

"Flash Sentry…"

Applejack was laughing heartily now. "That was his actual name?"

"He was in the royal guard! My brother knew him. He was very cool," I said, perhaps a notch too defensive. "Shining set me up with him after I mentioned I might… like him."

Applejack was still laughing.

"Applejack…" I whined. "It was a long time ago!"

"I'm sorry, sugarcube, I really am," Applejack said, wiping a tear from her eye. Her laughter was fading now. "It's just-- well, imagining you with some meathead jock and, boy, does that picture make not a lick of sense."

I rested my head back on Applejack's kitchen table, allowing the my cheek to melt onto the tabletop. "I know…" I mumbled, my voice melting along with my cheek. "He was weird, too. His whole personality was being a feminist, and he couldn't even do that right."

"Sounds like a real dick," Applejack commented.

I nodded, slowly, encumbered by the flesh of my cheek sliding across the table.

"But you're saying that this… this isn't that?" Applejack asked.

"It's different," I said. "It feels different. So it can't be a crush, right?"

Applejack shrugged. "Not to get too personal, but do you think the difference could have somethin' to do with the fact that Flash was a colt, and Vinyl's a mare?"

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Look at my mane, Applejack, and ask me that question again."

Applejack laughed. "I know, I know. You've always been loud and proud with us. I just… I dunno. I know I've crushed on stallions in the past, and it's absolutely nothing like what I have with Rainbow. That's probably because I'm a stone cold lesbian, though."

"Mm."

"My point is that not all crushes are equal, I guess," Applejack said. "And I think you have to be honest with yourself about what you feel for Vinyl before you can make any sorta choice here."

"It doesn't matter what I feel," I said darkly. "What matters is that--"

"It does so, Twilight!" Applejack stomped her hoof. "You keep tryna untangle what Vinyl is feeling as if your feelings aren't all twisted up in there, too. You aren't near as subtle as you think. However you feel, whether you know it or not, it's colorin' your actions with her."

I scoffed. "Not as subtle as I think."

"Your feelings may as well be broadcast on a neon sign strapped to your forehead," Applejack said. "Bein' completely honest, it's one of the things I like about you. You're not hard to decipher, and I don't have to play any games with you."

"Hey…" I sat up slowly, my cheek peeling away from the tabletop.

Applejack clucked her tongue. "For Celestia's sake, Twilight, I'm givin' you a compliment!"

"Doesn't sound like a compliment," I retorted.

Applejack made a sound that was half-sigh, half-growl. "Until you figure out what's goin' on in your own head, you won't have a prayer of firgurin' out what's goin' on in hers. Clear?"

"Crystal," I muttered.

"Good." Applejack flashed a superior smile. "Now, tell me: how do you feel about Vinyl?"

I moaned loudly. "Applejack!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. She trotted over from the sink, pulled out the chair across from me, and plopped down into it. "Come on, now. Pretend I'm Shining Armor and she's one of the royal guard, if it helps."

"No, it's just--" I sighed. "She has a marefriend. Y'know, a serious one."

"Congratulations to her. That doesn't affect how you feel." Applejack said, reaching over to poke my sternum.

"It does, though! It makes me feel… guilty," I said.

"Guilty for what?" Applejack pressed.

I shrugged. "I dunno. For spending time with her and stuff."

"Uh-huh."

"I mean, Octavia doesn't think much of it," I explained. "She's either very trusting or she just doesn't care."

"About Vinyl?" Applejack asked.

I nodded. "Vinyl told me that Octavia used to be really strict on her about where she went, and with whom, and--"

"That doesn't sound healthy."

"Well, now she doesn't seem to care. Or she thinks I'm some sort of… business connection, or something," I said. "That's what she seemed to think."

Applejack's eyes narrowed, asking for more without saying it.

"Vinyl just let her think that because it was easier than trying to prove I was trustworthy," I explained. "She's kind of a control freak."

Applejack snorted. "If you're sayin' it, it must be true."

"But that's not my business."

"So, all you know is that you like her and she's in an unhappy relationship," Applejack said.

"Yeah…"

"Gotcha!" Applejack pounded her hoof on the table.

"As a friend!" I corrected. "I like her as a friend and she's in a crappy relationship."

"For the love of--" It was Applejack's turn to put her face down on the table. "I take it back. Twilight, you may be the most impossible pony in Equestria."

"I don't think I'm--"

"How do you really feel about her?" Applejack asked, her eyes piercing mine.

"Applejack, she's dating--"

"Shut up about Octavia!" Applejack exclaimed. "I'm asking about you."

"I--" I stared down at the table.

When I thought about her, and the bees started to hum in my stomach, and my cheeks got warm and pink, and I couldn't stop giggling… that was friendship, right? Just a new friendship, something I couldn't remember doing for the last few years. Just details I'd forgotten about.

And when I thought about her kissing me, like I had that night in my room… and perhaps many nights, since… when I felt the lump in my throat and the tingling in my hooves, that was because of the game, right? Because kissing a friend is silly and fun and a little bit stupid.

And when I thought about the way she touched me, as much and as often as possible… with little side-hugs and back rubs and dancing… when I felt the energy spinning up inside me, and the need to touch her back, but perhaps a little harder, a little more, a little different… that was… that was…

"Twilight?" Applejack murmured. "You alright, sugarcube?"

"If…" I sighed. "If she was single…"

"Mm-hm?"

"I might… like her."

Just in Case

"I have your, uh…" Fluttershy held up the paper bag. It looked like the saddest burger ever made. "Your food."

"Thanks, Fluttershy," I said, holding my hoof out for the bag. "I really appreciate it."

"Sure," Fluttershy smiled and dropped the bag into my outstretched hoof. "I got you one with extra fries. Nothing fixes a broken heart like junk food!"

I opened the bag. The hayburger smelled amazing… greasy and salty and chock-full of carbs. I pulled the burger out of the bag and sat back in my chair, eyes still trained on my front walk. "Not a broken heart, Fluttershy."

"Right…"

"Just a friend trying to make things right."

"Twilight…" Fluttershy came to my side and sat down. "I thought we'd talked about this."

I scoffed and took a bite of the burger. "We talked about how insensitive it is of me to be trying to steal Vinyl away for myself."

"But that's not--"

"And we talked about how my feelings don't exactly factor into the equation."

"I agree that Vinyl shouldn't--"

"And we definitely talked at length about what a bad idea it is for me to reach out to Vinyl again, after these repeated…" I stopped to swallow. "The repeated… I can't think of the word."

"Um… incidents?"

I growled. "I can't keep calling things that happen to me 'incidents', it makes me sound like some sort of science experiment on the loose."

"Well, I think that--" Fluttershy stopped.

I turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Sorry, I thought… I thought you would interrupt," Fluttershy said.

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I just-- well, lately I've been telling every one of you girls the same thing, and I'm just getting sick of it," I explained. "Vinyl thinks I like her--"

"You do like her."

"--and that makes her uncomfortable, so she's staying away from me for now."

Fluttershy shuffled her hooves. "And… I'm sorry, why are you staying inside?"

"Because eventually she might come over, and I don't want to miss it if she does!" I explained. I popped a French fry into my mouth.

Fluttershy was silent for a moment. She took a step closer, her hooves rustling through discarded wrappers and paper cups. "I'm confused."

"It's--" I sighed. "It's a very delicate plan. Lot of moving parts."

"Seems like… no moving parts." Fluttershy's eyes ran up and down my body, which was slumped against the wall under the window.

"Ha, ha. Hilarious."

"Twilight, this is getting a little…" Fluttershy shuffled her hooves. The wrappers and bags rustled like leaves. "Well, you can't just stay inside all day."

"But…" I held up my burger. "I've got food."

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, but… wouldn't it be nice to go get your own food?"

I shrugged. "This is kinda like when I was a student at Celestia's school. I'm really, really good at it."

"Weren't you…" Fluttershy cleared her throat. "Do you really want to be good at it?"

I turned to face Fluttershy, setting the burger back down on the bag. She looked worried about me, I had to admit that. "I'm okay, Fluttershy! This is all… it's all a 'just in case' kinda thing."

"Just in case?"

"Yeah!" I smiled a bit. "Y'know, like I'm gonna stay by the window just in case Vinyl comes… I've got Spike waiting by the pool just in case Vinyl calls--"

"I was wondering where Spike went…" Fluttershy looked over her shoulder towards the crystal pool room.

"It's nothing to worry about! It's-- it's nothing to worry about, I promise."

Fluttershy whimpered.

I sighed. "What is it, Fluttershy?"

"It's nothing…"

"Fluttershy…"

"I'm worried about you, Twilight!" She said. "It's just my nature…"

I sighed deeply, barely managing to tear my gaze away from the window.

If I was honest with myself, I had no idea what I was doing. I had gotten really good at fixing other ponies' problems, but I still felt behind when it came to me. These past few days had been filled with constant justification. Maybe not an actual fight… but it felt like one. And I hated fighting with my friends.

"Hypothetically."

"Yes?" Fluttershy's ears pricked up.

"What could I do that would make you… less worried?" I mumbled, almost hoping she wouldn't hear.

"Oh!" Fluttershy flapped her wings excitedly. "Oh, we could go for a walk together! This is the perfect time of year to watch for goldfinches and woodpeckers!"

"Um…" I looked back out the window. "That sounds… nice."

"We could also go down to the river. There's a beaver lodge there with a very active family of five!" Fluttershy was edging into my peripheral vision. "You wouldn't believe how cute they are."

"Hm, that sounds… good…" I murmured.

There was a pony in the distance with a light coat. They were wearing a hoodie with the hood up, their man totally obscured. Was it Vinyl? If it was, was she dressed like that to avoid me? Did she really feel like she had to be in disguise just to go out?

Fluttershy was still talking. I think. But I couldn't hear her, not really. Distant and muffled.

The way they moved their head-- was that how Vinyl moved hers? They way they walked… was that the was she walked?

They removed their hood, revealing a grey mane.

I let out a breath.

"Twilight?"

I jumped. "Y-yeah?"

"Did you hear what I said? About the fox burrows?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah! Sounds cute," I said quickly.

"But you'd rather stay by the window?" Fluttershy guessed.

I looked over my shoulder at her. I'm sure I looked very pathetic. "Just in case…"

Fluttershy took a deep breath in and closed her eyes. She looked very at peace as she stood there, considering the stress I was probably putting her through. Although, at the time, I wasn't thinking any of that; I was thinking something more like 'please leave me alone so I don't have to confront this.'

"How about this:" Fluttershy said, her eyes still closed. "I will stay here and look out the window. You go down the street to the bookstore and buy a new book."

I turned to look at Fluttershy. "Wait… you'd really do that? For me?"

Fluttershy opened her eyes. "Of course, Twilight," she said. "I don't think I've ever seen you so nervous. You need a break."

"And if you see Vinyl, you'll--"

"I'll call Spike down and we'll go talk to her. I promise."

I stood up and rushed to my friend, embracing her tightly. "Thank you, Fluttershy. I'm gonna be so quick you won't even know I'm gone!"

"That's not--"

But I was already out the door.

I was off at a trot down the street, the cold air clinging to my sides. I shuddered and fluffed up my wings to trap some heat.

The bookstore really was just down the street, which had been terrible for my self-control. It was new, run by a very old mare who often fell asleep while knitting at the front desk. I always wondered how she knew where she'd left off when she fell asleep… although, judging by the overall quality of her finished scarves, knitting wasn't exactly her special talent. So maybe she didn't know how, either.

We had enough distance from Hearth's Warming that the streets were coming back to life. Some ponies flashed me little smiles, and I tried to return them.

The bell above the bookstore door tinkled lightly, and I grabbed at it with my magic to silence it. Feather Quill snorted in her sleep behind the desk.

I let the door drop gently. No sense waking her up. I liked to browse alone.

This bookstore was the type that nearly made you feel claustrophobic. The stacks of books scraped the sagging ceiling tiles, leaning precariously inward, threatening to fall at the slightest breath. What little shelving there was seemed to blend so seamlessly into the papery edges of the books that it was hardly there; just books. Unsorted, gloriously adventurous, and extensively annotated by mysterious previous owners. It was the kind of place that an incredible romance spanning all of time and space might begin…

I ran my hoof gingerly along the protruding bindings. Books of every shape and size. The smell was so… intoxicating. Old books, new books… even the dusty, mildewed tomes had their place in the aromatic atmosphere.

It was safe here. I'd spent so many hours of my childhood in places that looked and smelled just like this, be they bookstores or libraries. I could feel my stress dissolving just standing here.

My eye caught and lingered on a small, blue book with a fraying fabric cover. It was, tragically, stuck at the bottom of one of the more massive stacks.

I steadied myself, lit my horn, and began the dance of removing the book from the stack to examine more closely.

Little to the left, little to the right… more. More!

I shrieked as the stack came crashing down over my head. I tried to divert their path, but doing so without causing more damage in this cramped space was nearly impossible. Most of the books bounced off my head on the way down, it seemed.

"Oh, jeez…" I murmured, examining the mess I'd made.

Feather Quill snored again.

I crouched down and began to pick up books, stacking them more stably this time, and putting them back up in the shelf.

"Twilight?"

I stood bolt upright, dropped everything at once.

There she was. Standing at the end of the aisle. Her eyes were wide, as if she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't have been.

My breath hitched. "Vinyl?" I whispered.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She trotted towards me.

I instinctively room a step away from her. "Oh, n-nothing, I just-- what are you doing here?"

"Uh…" Vinyl cleared her throat. Then she laughed, a bit awkwardly. "I'm… I'm shopping for you."

I blinked. "For me?"

Vinyl took a deep breath, let it out. "Yeah, well, funny story-- Octavia and I both went home for Hearth's Warming."

When she said it, it seemed obvious. Of course you'd go home for Hearth's Warming. I'd gone home, after all-- visited my family for the day.

"Octavia's family still lives in Great Bittain, and mine's--"

"From Chicoltgo," I finished for her.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You remembered."

I blushed.

"Well, I hadn't heard from you for a while. I figured you didn't want…" She looked down at the floor. Cleared her throat. "Anyway, I got back yesterday. Got your present. But I didn't have anything for you."

"Did… did you like it?"

Vinyl blinked. "Like what?"

I chuckled. "Your present. I know it was--"

"Oh, my gosh. Twilight--" She looked at me, focused and intense. "I loved it. I listened to it so many times."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really!" Vinyl was beaming now. "I've never had anypony write a song for me before. It was really… special."

I didn't know what to say. I think I just stared at here. The anger and confusion that had built up in me after so many weeks was melting away, and I was trying so hard to replace it with images of Vinyl and her family, of messy morning meals, of cozy movie nights and mugs of cocoa…

"I'm getting you a book. Hope that isn't too on-the-nose," Vinyl said, with a little chuckle.

I shook my head. "Never."

"Well, good. Just hope you don't have it already."

I giggled. "If I do, I'll pretend I don't. Deal?"

Vinyl smiled. "Deal."

We stood there a moment longer, still staring into each other's eyes, nearly unblinking. It was as if we were afraid to miss a moment of the other's presence.

"No offense, Twi, but I'd appreciate if you could leave. Let me shop for your present where you can't see me, huh?" Vinyl said. Her old tone had returned. Casual. Relaxed. As if talking was the easiest thing in the world.

Talking to me, that is.

"Sure," I said.

I walked down the aisle, out of my mess, and towards Vinyl. The door was right behind her.

I lifted one wing to squeeze around her. My primaries brushed against Vinyl's head, and she ducked under them.

"Bye, Vinyl," I said.

"Bye."

I put my hoof on the door, began to push--

"Twilight, wait!"

She grabbed my foreleg with hers.

I turned to meet her, ready to ask what she needed of me.

But this exchange was wordless.

She kissed me.

I didn't know what to do, hardly knew how to react. I think I may have kissed her back.

She pulled away, a little breathless.

"I…" She stepped back. "I… I'm sorry, I…"

She took off running. Out the door, not looking back. She had not bought a book. She had not woken Feather Quill.

"Don't be…" I whispered.

Kiss

She had kissed me.

Vinyl Scratch… had kissed me.

Me.

Oh, gosh… she had been so warm… and the bookstore was so cold. So drafty. Had it always been this drafty? Practically like standing outside.

I tried to move my hooves, but word didn't seem to make it that far. All I could do was stand there. Like an idiot.

Her chest had puffed and brushed against mine. The warmth of her heart beat had radiated through myfur, up my throat--

What does this mean? Does it mean that she broke up with Octavia? Or… that they were on the rocks, at least?

Why else would she be sorry?

My hoof shot to my lips. I could touch my lips, but not walk forward? That seemed… not right. What was the word? Inopportune? No, not quite…

She had just kissed these lips. My lips. And it was far too quick. Far, far too quick. She should have lingered, should have breathed a gentle, warming breath against my face, should have given me the chance to embrace her, or weaken in her own grip. It should have gone on much, much--

No. She shouldn't have done it.

Unless they've broken up.

They must have.

But, if they had, why hadn't she told me?

Perfect parts soft and hard, the kiss had been. There was a passionate force, and yet… also a gentleness. A relinquishing of control. She had given me the chance to kiss her back, and I had taken it.

I think.

I couldn't remember. I didn't know. How could I not know? What could be stopping me from kissing her back, other than my own stupid panic? Nothing, that's what!

Nothing but Octavia…

My stomach lurched. My hoof fell to the floor to steady me. I felt as if my legs were swaying slowly back and forth, as if the book stacks were waving gently in a breeze, as if the world was pitching and tossing, pitching and tossing…

I closed my eyes. Make it stop, make it stop!

It grew stronger, more direct and aggressive. I opened my eyes again.

My back end plopped down onto the floor of the bookstore. That steadied me a bit.

I focused on the line of the sidewalk across the street. That steadied me more.

Okay, Twilight. Deep breaths. Think it through, don't get all panicky-weird. In, hold out, let in our slow. Remember Cadance. The way she's always talk you through it.

Start at the beginning.

Meeting in the club.

She saw a celebrity. A celebrity whose finnickiness and aversion to crowds was practically a national joke. And she happened to have the magic solution right there in her hoof.

Why?

As a pick-up line?

As back-up, in case her own failed?

Or… just to be nice?

That sounded the most like her, to be honest. She listened to you. She wanted to know you, wanted to know the little, important things about you. Wanted to memorize them and use them later.

She would often get a look in her eyes, after all… like she was physically filing information away in a special, invisible filing cabinet.

We had talked about so many things, and she must have filed away a lot. I wondered what information she was using to shop for me. Perhaps some surrealist literature, our own little in-joke?

So… I guess there was nothing weird about the night we met.

Then the speakeasy.

Okay. This had technically been asking me out on a date. I'll admit to that.

But it wasn't at night. It wasn't… romantic, per se? It had been more of a fun, 'let me show you around' sort of event.

Friendly.

I had done the same sort of thing with my friends many times over, after all. Nothing wrong with going out, just you and your closest friend, enjoying some one-on-one time…

Like wrestling. Wrestling that turns into--

Focus!

Game night.

I had acted… crazy. Maybe. Maybe she had acted crazy, too. Maybe she should realize that she acted crazy, and just admit it! Maybe not wanting to kiss your friend was normal!

But… she'd kissed me now. With no one here pounding on the door telling us to. Without another conscious soul nearby to witness it, in fact. Without being asked. Without even being tempted. She had wanted to.

No, no. Focus, Twilight. No jumping to conclusions.

Game night. You acted as if you not only didn't want to kiss her (a lie in general, a fact in the moment, all-in-all some very grey area indeed), but that you really never wanted to see her again (another lie). At least… didn't want to see her again until you told her it was okay. Or otherwise let her know.

Stupid, stupid! It should have been you from the beginning, Twilight! You should have gone back, should have sent her a letter, should have apologized! Something! Anything!

But you didn't. Because of Octavia.

Weeks go by. Vinyl doesn't speak to you. Not because she doesn't want to, but because you haven't said anything. To keep you-- me-- argh!

She gave me control. And I said, essentially, that I was done with her.

Like I had just now… by saying nothing. By not kissing back. By freezing up and doing nothing, as usual. Why couldn't I, just once, do something right while I was panicking? The law of averages seemed to indicate that I'd get it right one of these days! Why not today? Why not now?

...Was that really what the law of averages said?

Come on, Twilight. You're nearly caught up. Just stick through a few more terrible, awful, cringe-inducing events.

Okay. Vinyl and Octavia leave Ponyville for Hearth's Warming.

I couldn't believe I had let the idea slip my mind earlier. All that panic, all that stress… all the heart-pounding, sweating, near-vomiting late nights fueled by the image of Vinyl sitting at home, ignoring the package sitting on the welcome mat, cuddling with Octavia, nuzzling her cheek--

Twilight. Seriously?

So the pair leaves for separate destinations to visit family. Obviously for at least a week or two. Eventually, Vinyl returns, and finds my gift.

And, oh, gosh… the panic she must have felt. The desperate, compressed uncertainty. How long had this been sitting here? How long had I thought that Vinyl hated me and never wanted to see me again? How long had it been since we had last talked? Weeks? Months? What happened? Where did we go wrong?

And, even in that fear, she had trudged out into the world--without getting bundled up! Much like myself--to purchase me something.

And not something quick and easy. Not a nice scarf, or a good-smelling candle. She had come to their run-down, rinky-dinky, terrifyingly overstocked bookstore right near my castle. She wanted something one-of-a-kind, something with special highlighted portions and notes in the margins, or a weirdly stained page, or a name scribbled in the front cover, or a bookmark still in it, sunk too low to see. Something special. Something unique in its imperfections.

I smiled. The smile reminded me of my lips. My lips reminded me of the kiss.

But… to be fair. To play both sides, as it were. I had given her something totally unique. Perhaps she felt like she had to match it.

And she had.

Unknowingly.

With a kiss!

My first kiss.

My hoof shot back up to my mouth.

Holy crap.

My first kiss!

No… not my first. I had kissed Flash, after all. I had kissed him many times.

Then… why did this feel so much like a first?

It was my first kiss with a mare. Which felt different. But also… not.

That wasn't it.

It was… my first kiss in a long time? At least three or four years. Which is enough time for pretty much anything to seem new again.

But, no. That wasn't it either.

It felt exciting. Just as exciting as any first kiss. As any first anything. It made my heart pound and my stomach flutter and my brain turn to mush. It made my thoughts dissolve into a soupy, formless mass of vague feelings and wants and desires. It made my knees weak.

It was my first kiss with her.

My only kiss with her.

Because she was with Octavia. They lived together. They were staying together. Right? You don't move in with somepony until you're sure… right?

Unless you think you know what sure is, and then you actually do feel sure about something for the first time in your life, and it make your heart leap and your stomach flutter and your knees knock and your brain turn to soup? And you suddenly realize that you made a mistake; that you were never, ever sure the first time, but this time you would be sure always and forever…

That could happen, right?

That was reasonable, right?

Feather Quill snored. The sound was so loud it sent a chill down my back, and made my wings fluff up a little.

No, I decided. That wasn't possible.

I mean, the feelings were possible. Maybe. But… to expect a pony to just give up something so stable and certain for something so crazy and new and--

But. Vinyl and Octavia weren't… they weren't good.

No. Didn't think things like that.

But they're not! They hardly seem to look at each other when other ponies are around. They seem to regularly sneak around one another to get space and time apart. They have nothing in common… except liking music. And they can't even seem to agree on that.

It was like the difference between a scholar and a voracious, young reader.

One studied. One thought, considered, liked, disliked. One had rules and definitions. Perhaps they contributed to a wider dialogue, and perhaps those contributions were good. But they rarely did new things. Never truly changed the game.

The other… just loved it. Would read anything they could get their hooves on. Just read ,and read, and read… and then they would stop reading long enough to break open a composition notebook and scribe down their own ideas, in tentative words, in precocious sentences, and with bizarre ideas that could never be fully understood by another.

Both did import things. But the two would never agree on what was good and what was bad. What was worth the read, what should never be printed again. Their attitudes were so fundamentally different that they could never get along.

Both read words. But neither would choose the same book as their favorite.

Vinyl and Octavia both liked notes. They both liked instruments, and composition, and performing. But their definition of music was nothing alike.

It felt like a large and magical breakthrough.

I took a breath. It may have been the first breath I took since we had kissed.

That couldn't be right, though, could it?

I shook my head. The room heaved, and I stopped as quickly as I could.

Things were coming back.

Vinyl was just as confused as I was, wasn't she? Only her stakes were twice as high.

I didn't envy her position, that's for sure.

Even if… even if she liked me, and she would rather be with me (a thought that made me want to pass out on the spot), how could she? How could she leave Octavia like that? How could she just abandon that relationship and move on to the next one?

I had always hated it when ponies did that. Unceremoniously ended one relationship and started another mere days later. I couldn't be a part of something like that. Wouldn't.

My chest ached.

I wanted to just get my hooves in this problem and fix it already. How come every other issue could be solved in a day, and mine problems take weeks to resolve?

Totally unfair.

I stood up.

This was the long game, I suppose. The waiting game.

The ball was in Vinyl's court. Always had been. She was the one with a reason not to do this. And I don't mean for that to sound like it's her fault or something… it's just true.

So.

I'll wait.

I'll wait as long as it takes.

I'm in no rush.

She's worth waiting for.

Looks

"Whatcha readin'?"

I lifted the book from my lap, but did not answer. My lips moved with every word, as if reciting them to some invisible, dead audience.

"The Jazz of Magic," Pinkie read aloud. "Neat! What's it about?"

I sighed. "It's--" didn't want my concentration to be broken, but I also very badly wanted to talk about the book. "It's about how music and sorcery are tightly interwoven, and how studying both has led to insights we otherwise never would have found."

Pinkie cocked her head.

I dropped the book onto the table and spun it around for her to see. "See? This diagram shows how the circle of fifths and the standard rune ring take the same form."

Pinkie squinted at the diagram. "What's a circle of fifths?"

I squinted back at her. "Don't you… play trombone?"

"Oh! Is that just a fancy word for trombone?" Pinkie laughed. "That drawing doesn't even look like one!"

"Pinkie, that's not--"

"Oh, wait…" She leaned in closer. "No, it does. Neat!"

I gave her a funny look and took the book back. The two circles side-by-side in the diagram looked nothing like a trombone. Not even if I crossed my eyes. Celestia only knows how Pinkie Pie sees the world.

"Alright! What can I getcha this morning?" Pinkie said, getting to her hooves.

"I'll have a blue--"

"--berry pancake puff surprise? You got it!" She zipped off into the kitchen before I could even finish asking for my usual blueberry muffin.

I chuckled to myself and went back to reading.

The notion that magic and music have somehow been secretly based upon one another, or that these similarities are a coincidence, should not be what you take away from this reading. It should instead serve as proof that exists a set of higher, immutable laws which describe all things, and are yet to be discovered. No similarity should be considered coincidence until proven otherwise. This is the heart of scientific investigation, the heart of music, and the heart of magic.

I smiled to myself. It was clear why Vinyl had chosen this book, although I got the feeling that she hadn't exactly cracked it open to give it a read. And that was okay. She saw it and knew I would like it, and that's what mattered.

I did like it. In fact, I already had a copy of the book in the library, just hadn't gotten around to reading it yet.

When I received this copy--battered and torn, with little notes in the margin--I had donated my shiny-new version to the bookstore down the street. Feather Quill had even made some little comment about how 'somepony just picked up one of these! How funny!'

The book had been dropped on my doorstep at an unholy hour of the night by my nocturnal friend. She had attached a brief note to the front with a small piece of tape:

Twi-

Sorry. Things are weird. We'll talk soon.

-Vinyl

And so it was out of my hooves.

And I tried to let it be that way, I really did.

The weather had grown colder still, and the snow more frequent. We were now in the true dead of winter, and yet the streets had come alive with foals of all ages playing in flurries and drifts.

And, of course, with ponies playing came friendship problems. Little ones. But… enough to get me out of the castle. Enough to remind me how easy it was to force my own feelings down into a tiny, cold ball of pure anxiety rumbling quietly in the pit of my stomach for eternity.

Healthy, right?

Apparently this is what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to get over ponies. You're supposed to move on.

You're not supposed to sit around, waiting, hoping against hope that some miracle will drop them back into your lap.

I was brilliant at splitting the difference.

"Here ya go!" Pinkie said, sliding a plate down in front of me.

The object resting on the plate was some sort of monstrous dessert-breakfast hybrid: looking to all the world like a pancake filled with blueberries and yet mysteriously three times as thick, and topped with a muffin-y crumble.

"What's the surprise?" I asked.

"Oh, Twilight," Pinkie said, giggling and waving my comment away with one hoof. "Don't be silly! It's a surprise!"

"Okay, but it's just--"

"Bup, bup!"

"I just have an allergy to--"

"Oh, pft, as if I don't know all your allergies." Pinkie rubbed the top of my head, mussing my mane. "We're friends, aren't we?"

I laughed and waved Pinkie's hooves away. "Are friends supposed to know each other's allergies?" I asked.

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "You do if you're constantly baking for them!"

"Surprisingly good point."

"I think you'll find I have lots of good points, Twilight," Pinkie said very graciously. "Maybe if you opened your ears once in a while."

Pinkie turned to go, ready to let her snarky remarks hang in the air over the table for a while.

"Ooh, wait!" I said. Pinkie halted and turned, her motions comically similar to one who had had to come to a halt from full speed, rather than a slow amble. "Rainbow's coming later. Could you bring something out for her?"

"How much later is later?" Pinkie asked.

I blinked. "What?"

"Well, is Rainbow coming any minute now? Because, if she is, I'll bring her a donut."

"She should be--"

"If it's going to be close to twenty minutes, I can put in a fresh tray of donut and make sure they're all hot and melty and ooey-gooey by the time she gets here!"

"That sounds really nice, but--"

"If it's an hour or more, I can start a whole fresh batch in her most favoritest flavor, and have those hot and ready ooey-gooey melty sticky fresh by the time she's here," Pinkie grinned. "I've got you girls down to a science."

I giggled. "Very impressive, Pinkie. She'll really be here any minute, though, so any old donut in the case is fine.

"Alright…" Pinkie said, all sing-song like I'd just turned down the offer of a lifetime.

She turned to go.

I shook my head and chuckled to myself. For once, it was nice to have a conversation that didn't turn to Vinyl.

The thought made my smile disappear.

I kept reading.

The tandem study of music and magic began with a single mare: Johanna Trot. Her quest to bring mathematical definition to music is what led to the modern theories of keys, modes, and progressions that we still teach today. From here, Trot became obsessed with joining her love of music with her passion for magic, and began composing magical circles and runes based upon her own symphonies. The uses of these magic circles (as well as their effects in Trot's experiments) remain unknown, but detailed records of their design and influence survive to this day (see appendix 1.1.2).

I flipped to the back of the book, holding my page with a magical bookmark. The appendix was filled with grainy recreations of Johanna Trot's original notes, with drawings of chords mapped onto runic circles, detailed instructions regarding casting "duet spells" of complex polyrhythms and progressions.

If Vinyl had opened this book, if she had seen these instructions, would she have thought of the two of us performing together? The way I was now?

The bell at the door tinkled. I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see Rainbow Dash.

But, of course, like a phantom, she was there: Vinyl Scratch.

Only she looked at me like she was real. Her eyes wide, staring deeply into mine as if she'd been caught red-hoofed. Then, they quickly flicked away, and she turned to leave Sugar Cube Corner at high speed.

I stared at the place where she had been a moment longer.

"One donut!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "Hey, you look like you've seen a ghost."

I blinked. "I… Vinyl came in."

"She did?" Pinkie craned her neck to look around the room. "I don't see her anywhere. She in the bathroom?"

"She-- she turned and left when she saw me." I looked up at Pinkie. "What do you think that means? She looked at me for a long time, and--"

"Then I guess she's avoiding you, Twi," Pinkie said. "But don't get too down about that. There could be a million-billion reasons she's avoiding you."

I put a hoof on my stomach. "Ugh, like what?"

"Um…" Pinkie stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe… she's contagious and she doesn't want to get you sick?"

I sighed. "Why would she come to a bakery if she were contagious."

Pinkie shrugged. "When I'm sick, all I want are cupcakes. Maybe Vinyl's the same way!"

"I don't think so…" I folded my hooves on the table and laid my head on them. "I just wish things could stop being so weird."

Pinkie Pie pulled out the chair across from me and sat down. "Is this still about game night?"

My heart skipped a beat.

"Y-yeah," I lied.

"I really think you should just talk to her," Pinkie said. "Send her a letter or something. If she really doesn't wanna read it, she can just throw it out!"

"I guess…"

Pinkie sighed. "If you two had kissed that night, it would be different."

My stomach dropped into my hooves. "It would?"

"Well, yeah. Duh." Pinkie sat back in her chair. "If you had kissed and then she started avoiding you, it's probably because it made things weird with you and her, or with her and Octavia."

"Oh. Huh."

"But you didn't kiss!" Pinkie said. "So I dunno why she's acting weird. Ooh! Ooh! Maybe she's in witness protection, and hanging out with you is gonna blow her cover!"

I forced a small smile. "That's a good guess, Pinkie."

"I know, right?" Pinkie sighed in satisfaction. "I should write a book."

The bell tinkled again.

"Ooh! There's Dashie!" Pinkie stomped her hooves in excitement.

I turned to look. Rainbow Dash had just stepped through the door and was surveying the room for us. It didn't take long to spot Pinkie's wildly bouncing mane.

Rainbow trotted over to my table. "Hey. Was that Vinyl I just saw outside? 'Cause she looked at me like she'd never seen me before."

I sighed. "Yeah."

Rainbow sat down in the chair across from me and took a bite of the donut that was before her, not even thinking to ask. "I thought we were pretty much on a first-name basis. What gives?"

I shrugged.

"She still mad over game night?" Crumbs flew from Rainbow's mouth, and I brushed them off the side of the table. "I thought you, like, made up with her or whatever."

I swallowed. "I, uh… I dunno what's up with her."

"So crazy, we were just talking about this!" Pinkie remarked.

Rainbow looked at me. "You really haven't talked to her face-to-face since game night?"

"I…" I grit my teeth. "No? No, I… I haven't."

Rainbow crammed the last oversized donut bite in her mouth. "Aren't you gonna try--"

"Rainbow," I threatened.

She rolled her eyes, chewed, swallowed. "Aren't you gonna try to make up with her? She was really cool."

"I think the, uh… I think the ball's in her court now." I tapped my hooves on the table. "Has been. Since a while ago. You know, a few weeks."

Pinkie and Rainbow stared at me, their eyes searching for the source of the mistruth.

I held their gaze as long as I could. "What?"

"Hm…" Rainbow slowly relaxed back into her chair. "Nothing, I guess."

I shrugged as casually as I could muster. "I'm sure things will go back to normal soon."

Pinkie and Rainbow looked at each, seeming to reach some sort of unheard consensus.

"Alright! No rest for the pink," Pinkie commented, trotting back into the kitchen.

I raised my book again and kept reading.

It's hard to say for sure which art spawned the idea of lyrics. While both music and magic can be used without words, oftentimes those spells or songs that are considered "strongest" include meaningful, repeatable words or lyrics. After all, what does normal even mean? Is normal never talking to Vinyl again? Is it just being weird, unlikely friends? Is normal more or less than I have now? Can I stand it?

I squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them, the printed words had returned to their usual sense, scientific selves.

I closed the book.

"So, what's new?" Rainbow asked. "I haven't seen that book before."

I glanced down at the cover.

"At least, I-- I don't think I have." Rainbow chuckled. "You read damn fast."

"It's new." I started to cut into my pastry-hybrid. "I started it yesterday."

"Cool. Is it good?"

"It's, uh…" I looked down at it. In the musical notes on the cover, I could only see Vinyl's cutie mark. "It's… What's new with you?"

A look of suspicion crossed Rainbow's eyes, darkening them for only a moment. "Uh… well, I pulled a muscle in my lower back and now I can't sit up straight. Do you think I have to go to the doctor for that?"

"I dunno…" I mumbled. I put a bite of pancake in my mouth.

"Do you think I should go to the doctor?" Rainbow pressed. "'Cause I really, really don't feel like it, but I'm worried it'll affect my flying… it kinda hurts if I stretch my wing up over my head like this--"

She began to contort herself, her wing brushing over the table in the process. I steadied the rattling dishes with my magic.

Rainbow shrieked in pain and snapped her wing back into her side. "Yep. Hurts when I do that."

I glared at her.

She laughed sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Yes. You should go to the doctor," I said.

"Ugh…" Rainbow melted back into her seat. "I knew you were gonna say that."

"Then why did you ask?"

Rainbow pointed her hoof at me. "Excellent question. Here's another question I already know the answer to: what the hay is going on with you and Vinyl?"

I rolled my eyes. "I--"

"--don't know, sure," Rainbow finished for me. "But AJ and I don't buy that."

"Really?" I asked.

Rainbow shifted in her seat. "Well… okay, AJ doesn't buy that. And I agree with her. 'Cause she's stupid hot and stupid smart."

"Holy hell…" I covered my eyes with my hooves.

"Did something else happen?" Rainbow asked. "We've been trying to figure it out. We keep running into her around town and she gives us these crazy looks, like--"

"Who's we?" I asked.

Rainbow looked down at the floor. "E-everypony…"

"You've all run into her around town?" I felt like somepony was dribbling my heart up and down against my pelvis. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"Well, I-- I--" Rainbow kind of shrugged, still staring down at the floor. "I dunno, we figured that it wouldn't last this long. But I'm-- I'm starting to get worried that something happened. You can tell us anything, y'know."

I swallowed hard. "I know."

"So… can you at least be honest with me about what's going on?" Rainbow asked. "Like, totally honest? I can't exactly help you out if I don't know what the problem is."

I sighed.

This was the curse of having friends that knew you this deeply. They could practically smell when something was off, and they wouldn't let go until they'd figured out the problem and made some lousy attempt at fixing it. Or… well. Sometimes my friends were pretty good. They are the Elements of Harmony, after all.

"Well…" I shifted in my seat. Rainbow leaned forward in hers. "There may have been… a development."

"Really?!" Rainbow reached out to grab my hoof.

"Shush!" I scolded.

"Sorry, sorry." Rainbow sat back down in her chair. "What happened? Can you tell me?"

"Yeah, but…" I looked around the room. It was mostly empty, save for two ponies at other tables eating alone. "Not here."

Rainbow laughed. "Come on, Two. It's not state secrets or anything. Unless…?"

"No!" I gave her a disappointed look. "I just… I'd rather not talk about it with so many other ponies around."

Rainbow nodded. "I guess I can respect that. Where do you wanna go?"

"We could go back to--"

"Also, can AJ come? She's… probably better for advice on this stuff than I am." Rainbow smiled sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, Rainbow. Let's invite the whole town while we're at it."

I stood and started towards the door.

Rainbow was hot on my tail. "Well-- we don't need the whole town. Just AJ."

"She kissed me," I said.

Rainbow and Applejack gasped. Applejack kind of made an 'ain't that cute' face, and Rainbow covered her mouth with both hooves.

"But… she's still dating Octavia," I said.

"Eesh…" Applejack commented.

"Yikes," Rainbow added.

I sighed. "At least, I think she is."

Applejack and Rainbow exchanged a look.

"You're sure Octavia isn't more herd-inclined?" Applejack asked.

I scoffed. "Definitely not. Vinyl told me herself that she's pretty possessive, and with the way Vinyl's been acting? I can't think of another explanation."

Rainbow whistled. "That's a tough spot, Twi."

"I'm just trying to forget it about it right now," I said. "It's really not my business, after all."

Applejack was looking up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Rainbow was sort of staring at the wall, as if trying to imitate Applejack's deep thinking, but not quite understanding the point.

"Really," I said. "I don't expect there to be a solution, girls. Rainbow just said you were worried about me, and I didn't want you to worry."

"You know what this sounds like to me?" Applejack said. She looked at me, her eyes narrow and focused like a private investigator on the cover of a detective novel.

"Uh…" I thought for a moment. The question was far too vague to consider, though. "I dunno. What does it sound like?"

Applejack nodded slightly. "It sounds like Vinyl's bad relationship is creating a rift in her friendship with you."

Rainbow looked over at Applejack. She smiled knowingly.

"Whoa, I--" I laughed. "I don't think we can go that far."

"Can't go that far on what?" Applejack pressed.

I stuttered. "O-on anything! We don't know that their relationship is bad--"

"Sounds pretty bad to me," Rainbow commented.

"--and, even if it is, what it's doing between the two of us isn't exactly a 'rift in a friendship', it's more of a… of a…" I was at a loss for words. How to describe what was happening? Mutual pining? Love triangle?

"Who even knows what the difference is between friendships and relationships?" Rainbow asked nopony in particular. "I feel like they're pretty close."

"Excellent point, Rainbow Dash," Applejack said, with a nod and a smile.

"Why, thank you, Applejack," Rainbow Dash answered. The two sniggered to themselves.

I cleared my throat.

"You've got a friendship problem," Applejack said.

I looked at her. Then at Rainbow Dash. Then back at her. The two were equally smug, wearing nearly the same face precisely.

I scoffed. "By the loosest of definitions."

Rainbow shrugged. "Who gives a shit?"

I slumped back in my chair. "Fine. Say I do have a friendship problem. How does that get me any closer to fixing things?"

"Oh, that's easy;" Applejack nudged Rainbow. "If it's a friendship problem, that gives me and Rainbow, here, permission to do something inadvisable and ultimately unhelpful to try to solve it."

"Yep!" Rainbow folded her hooves behind her head. "As long as we learn something from it, it's fair game."

"That sounds like a mockery of the elements," I said.

We were silent for a moment.

"But…" I leaned in closer to them. "Out of curiosity… what exactly would you do?"

Muscles

"Vinyl Scratch has recently started working out at Bulk Biceps' new gym," Rainbow Dash explained.

"That guy opened a gym?" I asked, incredulous. "He can barely string two sentences together."

"Yeah, but his enthusiasm outweighs his incompetence in that line of work," Applejack said, rolling her eyes. "RD and I signed up since we're both in the off-season. Being in there is like being at a BBBFF concert."

"So much screaming…" Rainbow murmured, her eyes unfocused and tired.

"That said, it's got the best equipment in town," Applejack said. "I'm sure Vinyl's still a member."

"She doesn't go super often. But she's always, always there Wednesday nights starting at six," Rainbow explained. "I know that because she always jumps on the lat press when I'm not looking. Seriously, what unicorn needs good back muscles?"

Rainbow fluttered her wings for emphasis.

Applejack scoffed. "What pegasus needs to work her quads as hard as you do?"

"Hey! Those are for kickoff and you know it." Rainbow smacked her own flank. "These aren't the Apple-Bucking Muscles, AJ. Anypony can use them."

I cleared my throat loudly and comedically. "So?"

Applejack and Rainbow snapped back to looking at me. "So, we know her gym schedule," Applejack explained. "We're heading over tonight at six, and we're gonna see what we can get out of her."

"What do you mean, 'get out of her'? She's not a war criminal!" I exclaimed.

Rainbow laughed. "Twi, were just gonna have a friendly conversation with her and see if we can find out what's going on with her and Octavia." Rainbow looked over at Applejack. "And, y'know. Anything else she may wanna tell us."

The rational part of my brain knew this was a bad idea. Unfortunately, the rational part of my brain seemed to have dried into a shrunken husk over the past few weeks, entirely overcome by the mushy-gushy, lovesick part of my brain.

"Yeah. Let me and RD do a little spying for you," Applejack said with a smile. "We promise we'll learn our lesson about how spyin' is wrong as soon as we're done."

My mind was churning. It was hard to get past the need to know and get to the meat of the proposition.

"Applejack, how can you be okay with this?" I asked. "Isn't it super dishonest?"

Applejack shrugged. "I'm of the mind that your friends should always be honest with you. Even when the truth isn't all that great. I don't like that she's avoiding you like this, so I'm gonna enact some justice."

"Justice?"

"Yeah, you heard her!" Rainbow pounded her hoof on the table. "Justice! Nopony hides crap from my friends. Secrets suck."

I chuckled lightly.

They actually made a pretty good couple, these two.

"So?" Applejack asked. "Will you let us do this for you?"

"Yes," I blurted.

"Yes?!" Rainbow put both front hooves on the table and pushed herself up to stand on her chair.

"Really?" Applejack cocked her head.

"I just--" I sighed. "I need to know what's going on. How am I supposed to fix things if I don't know the problem?"

"Exactly!" Rainbow threw her hooves up in exasperation.

Applejack smiled to herself.

"On one condition:" I said. "I-I wanna come with."

Rainbow snorted. "Won't that be a little suspicious?"

"No, no! I have a spell." I cleared my throat. "It'll make me invisible. I'll sneak around the gym with you guys and listen in on everything. It'll be perfect!"

Applejack squinted at me. "How in the hell is that perfect? Sounds like a big risk."

"Ideally… I could just talk to her myself," I said. I looked down at my folded hooves on the table. "But she won't let me talk to her. So at least let me listen."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each, exchanging a series of subtle eyebrow motions and mumbled non-committal syllables. Rainbow leaned back in her chair and sighed deeply.

"This is verging on some morally iffy territory," Applejack said. "You sure you want to come listen in?"

The little, dried husk of logic lurched. Don't do it! You're breaking her trust!

No. She made me a part of this. I deserve to know.

"Yes. I do." I nodded.

Rainbow shrugged. "Alright. I guess you have 'til six to work out any kinks in the invisibility spell. Meet back here?"

"Sounds like a plan," Applejack said.

"I'll leave the door unlocked," I agreed.

The spell was harder than perhaps I had expected.

Let me explain. There are many different types of spells, typically falling into a few categories:

First, there were inorganic spells. These were spells which affected objects that were not living. Whether they were short-lived (like a transportation spell) or long-lasting (like a color-changing spell), they were 'one-and-done'. Once the spell was cast, it was over with. You didn't have to think about it anymore. I like to think of it like plucking the string of a violin; the string vibrates after it's been plucked, the sound is not dependent upon you anymore.

Second, there are instantaneous organic spells. Spells which are performed on organic objects, but the effects of which are momentary. A growth-enhancing spell on a plant, for example, would be considered instantaneous. The plant's growth rate is advanced for a set period of time, after which it returns to its usual behavior. It is like a whole note on a violin, being played with concentration for its duration, and then released shortly after.

Thirdly, there are long-term organic spells. These are spells which have a long-lasting effect on something which is alive, with ever-changing biology on a microscopic scale. Something like an invisibility spell, for example.

These spells require constant concentration on the part of the caster, as they must keep up with the moment-to-moment chemical changes within the body. They were like a long, consistent, vibrato note on the violin… requiring constant, unnoticed adjustments by the performer to hold perfect key.

And I was going to be casting one in a gym.

While listening to Vinyl talk about her relationship with Octavia.

Her relationship with me.

While she worked out.

Staying calm is key. Even breathing is necessary. There could not be any hormonal changes within me while I spied on my… acquaintance. Not a drop of sweat. Not a hard pump of the heart. Not a breath of emotion.

Even thinking about it made me start to shake.

I had practiced sitting in front of my mirror for a few hours before Applejack and Rainbow Dash arrived. My skin would ripple and shimmer, like a mirage, then disappear. If I squinted, I could see the slightest haze over the furniture on the other side of the room. Otherwise? Foolproof.

As long as I stayed calm.

There was a knock at the door. My reflection popped back into view.

"Coming!" I shouted. The stress was straining my voice already.

Applejack and Rainbow looked like somepony had asked them to dress up as Equestria Games competitors for Nightmare Night.

Rainbow Dash was wearing matching sweatbands on all four hooves and around her head. She had put her mane up in a comically high fillytail, which seemed to be bouncing just while she was standing there.

Applejack was wearing--I kid you not--legwarmers and a matching sweatsuit.

"Uh…" I blinked. "What's with the outfits?"

Rainbow frowned. "This is what I always wear to the gym…"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "You comin', or not?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" I sighed and closed the door behind me.

We set off at a brisk trot.

"I thought you'd be invisible," Rainbow said.

I sighed. If I admitted how difficult the spell was, wouldn't they want to leave me at home?

"I… thought you'd be freaked out if there was nopony at the door," I mumbled, probably unconvincingly.

I closed my eyes, still trotting along between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Calm blue ocean, Twilight. Evening sky. Gentle summer breeze.

"Whoa!" Rainbow started to laugh. "No way, that's so sick!"

I rolled my eyes, but neither of my friends could see it. "You've seen me do much harder stuff than this."

"It's still awesome!" Rainbow said.

"You're talented, Twilight," Applejack said. "For fuck's sake, let us tell you once in a while."

I blushed, but said nothing.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack pulled ahead of me as we neared the gym, starting their own little conversation. We hadn't discussed this, of course, but us girls always knew how to move in sync.

The first thing you noticed about Bulk Biceps' gym (The Long Rein, it was called) was the smell. It didn't smell like sweat, per se; it was more like the place had smelled very badly of sweat for a while, and Bulk had finally realized that he may have overlooked the hygiene aspect of gym-ownership. Two or three misguided deep-cleans later, and we were left with this.

The second thing you noticed--well, I noticed--was just how crowded it was.

The third thing I noticed was that crowds are way worse if no one can see you.

Just a few steps from the front door and I was touched by no less than three ponies, all sweating buckets on their way out the door. Or… maybe just wet from the shower. Admittedly, I didn't know much about how gyms worked. Is that pathetic?

Concentration fading! Focus!

I maneuvered to an empty space and managed to get airborne. Hopefully this would afford me the space I needed to not be touched.

I surveyed the ground. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were making their way towards the back of the gym, where the treadmills, stairmasters, and stationary bikes turned into weight-training machinery. At my best guess.

They were moving slowly, looking side to side. Maybe looking for Vinyl? Maybe looking for me?

I flew down near them and grazed the top of Applejack's head.

"Hey, what the--" Her hoof flew to her head and she looked up. She didn't finish her thought.

I tapped Rainbow, too.

Rainbow and Applejack looked at one another and nodded slightly, like spies. I guess they technically were spies.

They made themselves comfortable at two mystery machines side-by-side. Whatever they were, they seemed to be working their back legs. Were these the lat presses they had been talking about?

I caught a lavender streak through the air as my wing's disguise partially dissolved.

Focus, Twilight. Focus.

I couldn't have scripted the moment better myself. The front door swung open, and Vinyl Scratch stepped in. She had her mane pulled back in a low fillytail, and her tail wrapped into a bun. Her shades were gone, striking ruby eyes on display for all to see. She literally had a towel laid across her shoulders.

She stood there a moment--the perfect amount of time--surveying the area. Then, she whipped the towel off her shoulders and sauntered to the lockers.

My hoof appeared.

Focus.

Gone again.

Applejack and Rainbow paused, as if they had sensed her presence. After a moment's realization, they kept pumping, almost perfectly in sync.

Vinyl filled a water bottle at the fountain near the front, then trotted towards the back. She slowed down as she approached Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I could almost see her thoughts ballooning upwards from her head: should I be avoiding them too? Has Twilight talked to them about this? Don't be silly, of course she has… do they care? Do they think it's my fault?

She said nothing, just climbed into a machine one down from Rainbow Dash and went to work. It was a slightly different machine-- this one seemed to work the front legs in a similar pumping motion.

Rainbow gave Applejack a panicked look.

"Uh…" Applejack swallowed. "Hey, Vinyl."

Vinyl halted mid-pump. "Oh, hey! L-look who it is!" Vinyl looked a little sick. "Fancy meeting you, so suddenly…" This had a little sing-song to it, rather old fashioned.

Rainbow was still working out, but now stared straight ahead, her eyes narrow and her eyebrows knit.

"Er… right." Applejack cleared her throat. "It's been a while, what's new with you?"

"With me?" Vinyl's lip twitched. "Nothing. The same. Same as it ever was, Applejack. Same as it ever was."

Okay… those were most definitely song lyrics.

I caught a glimpse of my snout.

Focus!

Poof, gone again.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Rainbow asked. "Are you gonna come by again some time?"

"Um…" Vinyl huffed lightly, breathless from the combination conversation-workout. "M-maybe. Soon, I hope. I'll see you soon. Don't you lose your trust! 'Cause I'll… I'll see you all soon."

Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other, asking silently about Vinyl's new… lyrical way of speaking. She hadn't always talked like this, right?

"Cool. Maybe a movie night?" Rainbow suggested.

Vinyl strained against the machine's resistance. I watched, entranced, as the muscles of her back contracted and relaxed, contracted and relaxed… as her legs pumped, slowly and deliberately…

"Sounds cool," Vinyl said. "Just a little late-night, double-feature picture show…"

"Uh… sure. We can do a double-header."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, but seemed to pause mid-roll. She was looking right at me! Well, to the right of me. She made a face that was as panicked as possible without actually shouting my name.

I looked to my right. Nearly my entire wing was in view.

Focus, focus… calm blue ocean. Summer breeze.

Rainbow seemed to relax. I guessed that I was hidden again.

Maybe the ground would be better. No need to move my wings that way?

There was a space right near the machines everypony was using where I would be out of the way, up against a window.

I drifted down and landed as delicately as possible. No space in my concentration to use a silencing spell, so natural gentleness would have to do it.

"How's Octavia?" Applejack asked.

I tripped over my own hooves and made a wild clattering sound.

All three ponies' ears swiveled in my direction.

I held my breath.

"What the hell was that?" Vinyl asked. She jumped off her machine and started walking my way, looking around for anything which could have fallen.

"Uh, it was--" Applejack looked to Rainbow for help.

"--the wind! Weren't there some wind chimes out there, AJ?"

"Uh…" Applejack swallowed. "M-maybe?"

Vinyl squinted and stepped closer to me, looked right through my neck. "That didn't sound like wind chimes, are you sure?"

She took another step closer. Mere inches from the fur of my neck. For a ment, she was looking through me-- she was looking right at me. A double take. Nothing.

"They were wood?" Rainbow suggested.

"Huh." I felt her breath on my neck.

She stepped away.

"Let's do delta," Applejack suggested.

The group moved together towards another section of the gym. I gulped in an enormous breath of air.

By half-shuffling my hooves, I could make it around the gym without making much sound. I followed behind the three mares, eternally grateful nopony could see how ridiculous I looked right now.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your answer earlier-- How's Octavia?" Applejack asked. She seemed to be looking over Vinyl's shoulder for some sign of me.

I shuffled faster. It was so hard to move quietly and breathe quietly, none of the spy books ever tell you that!

"She's, uh…" Vinyl rubbed the back of her neck with one hoof. "She's okay. She's been outta town a while. Will the real Great Bittain step forward, right?"

"What?" Rainbow asked.

Vinyl chuckled nervously. "Sorry. It's a song."

"So she's back home?" Applejack asked. "Why's that?"

"Well, she… she just needed a change of pace I think. She gets lonely sometimes," Vinyl said. She seemed to be putting on an air of distraction, almost.

My heart thudded in my chest. Lonely? Could that be my fault? Could it be that Vinyl was pulling away because of me? Had I brought Octavia this pain?

Focus, focus!

"Yep," Vinyl continued. "Walks a lonely road. The only road she's ever known."

"Ain't that a might dramatic?" Applejack asked with a little chuckle.

"Hm?" Vinyl seemed to snap back to reality, looking doe-eyed and confused.

Applejack shook her head. "Nevermind."

The girls took their position at a few adjacent bench presses. I wasn't sure if that meant they had agreed on delts or diverted to something else. What exactly exercised a delt anyway? And which delt did they mean?

Vinyl was sitting up on her bench, looking at a spot rather near my head. She cocked her head to the side. "Hey, guys, do you see--"

Focus, Twilight!

Vinyl did a double-take. "Huh. Nevermind."

Somepony bumped into me, and I made a little sound as I was jostled forward. I had stopped right in the main walkway, and was being quickly overtaking by a crowd here for some sort of class.

I stumbled forward to stand next to Applejack's bench. Tight quarters, but I'd be okay.

"Sorry things are tough with Octavia right now," Rainbow said. She was standing over Applejack at her bench, waiting to catch the dumbbell if it proves too heavy. "Fighting sucks."

"Oh, we're not fighting!" Vinyl exclaimed.

I didn't know how to feel about that, and my heart seemed to agree.

Vinyl looked down at her hooves. "It's just… well, I think she wants me to put in more time on our relationship than I really… have. I feel like it should be easy, y'know? Like… why am I working so hard at this when it should just happen?"

It was clear that Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn't know what to say to this. They kind of looked at each other, exchanging a look close to guilt. Was it because their relationship was easy? Or because they sucked at giving advice in these kinds of situations and didn't know how to get out of it?

"Wow," Rainbow said.

Applejack said nothing, just kept working out.

Vinyl shrugged. "I mean. It is what it is, right? Either it's easy or it's not. I don't wanna have to work that hard all the time just to be happy."

Boy, do I know how she felt. Focus, Twi.

"Uh… yeah," Rainbow said.

"Ugh, I'm sorry." Vin put her face in her hooves. "You guys are easy to talk to, I always just spill my guts."

Applejack settled her weight back into the stirrups. "Always?"

"Well, I dunno. Mostly to Twilight." Vinyl smiled to herself.

I felt all of my blood rush to my face.

"Is it her magic or something? I swear I can't keep anything to myself around her," Vinyl said. "Or is that just how she is?"

"That's just Twilight," Applejack said. She chuckled, as if she were remembering an old friend. "She's easy to talk to, ain't she?"

"Yeah." Vinyl was still looking down at her own hooves folded in her lap, smiling bittersweetly.

My heart was pounding harder and harder.

Was that a confession?

That she thought I was… I was easier than Octavia?

I was the one it just happened with, naturally.

I was the one she could talk to about anything, when she had to hide things from Octavia.

Vinyl looked up, still wistful.

She turned her head, her mouth open to say something to Applejack-- but whatever it was never made it out.

I saw the whole thing in slow-motion.

Vinyl's brows furrowed in extraordinary detail as she made direct eye-contact with me, equal parts shocked and horrified. "Twilight?!"

I looked down, saw myself in perfect detail. No haze, no glimmer, no nothing-- just me, standing in a gym I had no business being in because I'm a lanky nerd.

Rainbow and Applejack whipped their heads around to look at me, also horrified.

I, genius that I am, knew that there were two possible solutions: run, or turn invisible again.

Being unable to properly weigh these brilliant options, I did both.

I darted into the walkway, my limbs fading away into nothingness as I did. I moved like a frightened squirrel.

I turned my head back to make sure my wings were invisible, and I ran straight into a column.

The last thing I saw before I went fully unconscious was Vinyl's face.

She kinda looked happy to see me. But that could be the concussion talking

Author's Note

Thanks for hanging in there, everyone! You're really learning the meaning of sloooooooowburn, huh?
Worry not... And countdown to chapter "P"!

Our

Alright.

I don't really have any business telling this part of the story, since I wasn't there. But it needs to be told. Partially because I’ve been asked, I guess. But partially because this is as much Vinyl’s story as it is mine, and dammit if I don’t wanna be accurate.

I can't guarantee that any of this is exactly accurate, of course. It’s not anypony’s favorite subject, after all. I understand the gist of the discussion that occured, perhaps with a slight bias towards one party. Just keep it in mind as you think this stuff over.

Anyway.

After Vinyl stayed with me for a while (and I said some things that maybe I shouldn’t have said), she went back home. That is, the home she shared with Octavia. Octavia’s home, which she lived in.

Vinyl reached for the door and slid her key into the lock, but the door swung open on its own. The sound of a whistling tea kettle could be heard from the front stoop.

"Tavi?" Vinyl called, stepping inside and closing the door behind her. "I'm home."

"I'm in the kitchen, Vinyl," Octavia responded.

Vinyl swallowed, pushing down a lump of anxiety with little success.

She walked slowly through the darkened house and into the kitchen. Octavia's back was to Vinyl. She was pouring hot water from the kettle into a plain, white mug.

"Hey," Vinyl said.

"Hello," Octavia replied.

Vinyl hoisted herself into the counter near Octavia. "How was home?"

Octavia sighed. "Enlightening."

Vinyl chuckled lightly. Nervously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Octavia dropped a tea bag into the mug. She was humming to herself, just a little bit. She always hummed the same little tune. Someone symphony or something. Vinyl couldn’t remember its name. “Do you remember when we got together?” Octavia asked.

Vinyl was caught off guard by the question. It was something she hadn’t thought about for a long time. “Sure, I do,” she said. She was kicking her hind legs slightly, dangling them over the tile floor. “Lyra set us up. It was… early October? I think? We went to Donut Joe’s together and got coffee after class. It was nice.”

Octavia was quiet. Just staring into her mug, watching the darkness of the tea leach out from the bag. She reached over and swirled the bag through the warm water, even though she had been scolded for doing so as a filly. Don’t disturb the tea, dear. It makes it bitter.

Vinyl was desperate to fill the silence. “Did I get the time wrong or something?”

“My parents got a divorce,” Octavia said, with an odd little high note at the end.

It hit Vinyl like a punch in the chest. “Oh, shit, Tavi. I had no idea. I’m so sorry, I--”

“No, no. It’s been a long time coming,” Octavia said. “I think the only reason they stayed together so long was because of me. Separating would have been messy. And hard on me.”

Vinyl chewed on her lip, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s not that they… that they hate each other,” Octavia continued. Even shaken like this, her voice was so soothing and smooth. “It’s just that the thing holding them together--which was me, I suppose--was so flimsy… they like each other plenty. They might even be friends. But they’re not in love.”

Vinyl blinked. “I… okay?” She shrugged. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.”

Octavia turned to look at Vinyl. “You know, they’re still living together? They say they’re so used to it that there’s no point in moving out. I don’t even think they’re seeing other ponies. They’re just… not married anymore. What difference does it even make?”

Vinyl opened her mouth to respond, but closed it quickly. She wasn’t looking at Octavia, just down at the floor.

“You know what my mother said?” Octavia said, turning back to look at Vinyl. “She said she doesn’t think they’ve ever been in love. My father got her pregnant and they made a decision to become parents, but that was the only thing holding them together. That’s it. Once I was gone, they were through.”

Octavia was fighting through tears, but in such a way that only Vinyl could tell. Had anypony else been in the room, they may have guessed that Octavia was rather apathetic about the whole. Merely relaying facts she thought were important.

“That’s a nice way to find out you were an accident, don’t you think?” Octavia spat. Not at Vinyl. Just in general.

Vinyl looked up at her. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” Octavia said harshly, turning back to her tea. “They don’t seem upset by the whole affair one bit. In fact, my father said he feels like a weight has been lifted. Isn’t that lovely?”

Octavia threw her tea bag into the open trash can in the corner. The way she did it suggested she did not find the whole thing ‘lovely’ at all.

“Tavi, I--”

“That’s what’s happened to us, isn’t it?” Octavia interrupted.

In a way, it was like the clouds parted. The darkness that had been hanging over the household for many months, now, was finally clearing… but the sun’s harsh light was somehow worse than the concealing darkness.

Vinyl looked at Octavia.

“Because, I’ll be honest, I don’t think I would be all that sad if we were to just give up,” Octavia said. “And that thought breaks my heart more than anything. That the time and the work we put into this has just been a waste.”

“It hasn’t been a waste.” Vinyl swallowed. “I… I could work harder.”

“Should it be work?” Octavia asked. “Should we have to work, Vinyl? I don’t see the point of a relationship if it’s just more stress and pressure. Aren’t we supposed to lift each other up?”

“I thought we did,” Vinyl said.

Octavia sighed. “Maybe. Once.” She paused. “It’s not… that I’m not willing to work.”

Vinyl nodded.

“But, I have to be honest, I can’t see you doing the same.”

Vinyl blinked. “You don’t?” It was hard not to be a bit offended.

Octavia shook her head. “And it’s not that I think you’re a bad pony. It’s just that… I think you can see the end of this relationship more clearly than I can. It’s like we’re lost, and you know that we’re lost for good, but I’m still looking at a map trying to save us. And you know we can’t be saved… but you’re letting me believe it anyway. I don’t know if that’s kind or cruel.”

Vinyl was quiet for a long time. Octavia quietly stirred milk and sugar into her tea.

“I think…” Vinyl murmured. She stopped there, cleared her throat, and tried again. “I honestly don’t know why we got together in the first place.” She laughed breathlessly, in disbelief.

Octavia nodded. She leaned back against the counter and held her tea under her nose.

“I remember Lyra getting us to go out on that first date. I remember… thinking you were cute, and smart, and refined.” Vinyl looked up at Octavia. She was smiling a little bit. “I remember thinking that there was no reason not to keep seeing you, because you were cool. And I liked spending time with you.”

Octavia nodded. “But?”

“But…” Vinyl paused and stared at the floor. “I dunno. Maybe I just liked the idea of dating somepony so much that I… y’know.” She couldn’t quite say it. But it was there.

Octavia sipped her tea.

The kitchen was silent for a long time while the two reminisced. Privately. Remembering the early dates, the sweet nothings, the strange and pervasive awkwardness of it all. How it had never really been easy, maybe. How it had been an endless trade of performative gifts and dates. Like an obligation.

“What did your mom say?” Vinyl asked.

“Hm?”

“I’m sure you talked to her about us,” Vinyl said. “She must have given you some advice. What did she say?”

Octavia sighed. “She said that there’s no reason to end it. The living arrangement, that is. That if we’ve really just fallen out of-- of-- well. Of whatever we had. That you should be allowed to stay.”

“Oh.” Vinyl ran her tongue over her teeth.”Well, if--”

“But I disagree,” Octavia said.

“You--” Vinyl nearly choked on her words. “You what?”

“I disagree,” Octavia repeated. “We’re not some old married couple. We barely have a life together. I don’t think there’s anything that’s really… ours. Not the house. Not much of anything in it. So… what's the point of sharing our lives if we don’t share anything in them?”

Vinyl was starting to feel the tears climb up her throat. “But-- w-we--”

“Vinyl.” Octavia was smiling a little. A sad smile. A pitying smile. An impossible smile. “Do you have someplace you could sleep tonight?”

“I--” Vinyl swallowed hard. Just answer the question. It’s a simple one. “Yeah. Lyra and BonBon live in town, I can crash on their couch.”

“You can stay the night, if--”

“No. It’s okay.”

Octavia nodded.

“Is… is that it?” Vinyl asked.

Octavia shrugged. “Do you disagree?” She set her empty mug down on the counter. “You’ve been pulling away more and more as time’s gone on. Do we share anything that you feel the need to preserve?”

“I--” Vinyl’s thoughts were all jumbled, lumped together at the front of her head. “I just-- is that really it? We’ve been together for four years, Tavi.”

Octavia closed her eyes and seemed to steady herself. “If you would prefer a knock-down, drag-out fight, we can have one. But I just don’t think there’s anything to fight over.”

“You’re not angry?” Vinyl asked.

Octavia scoffed. “Of course I’m angry. I’m furious. You should have heard the things I yelled when my parents told me they were…” She grit her teeth and shook her head at the memory. “But what am I supposed to do? You haven’t done anything wrong. You’re just not the mare I’m meant to be with.”

Vinyl nodded. “Right…”

“Are you angry?”

“No!” Vinyl blurted. “Well, yes, but-- no, I’m not, I’m just-- I dunno!”

“I don’t know, either,” Octavia said.

“Well, can’t you at least pretend to be upset?” Vinyl spat. “I mean-- this is four years of our lives. You’re not going to miss it? Not even a little?”

“Do you think I’m acting like this because I just don’t care?” Her voice was rising. “Of course I care! I care what happens to you, I care about our time together!”

“Then show it!” Vinyl exclaimed. “I mean-- come on!”

“No, you come on! I’m doing this for your sake!” Octavia stood up very suddenly. “Why do you think I went home in the first place?”

“What, so you decided to break up with me alone, then got over it before you even told me?”

“I’m not over it!” Octavia shouted.

A silence fell in the kitchen.

Vinyl was frozen as Octavia stared at her, her lower lip trembling, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Tavi, I--”

“How could I be over it, Vinyl?” she said. “How?”

Without thinking, Vinyl rushed in to embrace her marefriend. Well… her ex-marefriend. The two of them held each other for a while, crying almost silently as Celestia raised the sun.

“I’m sorry, Tavi,” Vinyl whispered. “I’m sorry.”

Octavia did not respond.

It is a strange feeling, to be comforted by the one who made you cry in the first place. You want it to feel good. You want the crying to make you feel better, like it always does. You want everything to be fixed. But there’s something about their embrace that just makes the pit in your stomach grow.

Octavia broke out of Vinyl’s embrace. “You should go.”

Vinyl nodded. She sniffled, and wiped away a stray tear. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“I’m going to Canterlot in a few hours. Fleur said she’d let me stay with her for a while.”

“That’s good.”

“Mm-hm.”

Vinyl stood a little longer in the kitchen. She did not look at Octavia. Octavia did not look at her.

“Alright,” she said at last. “Goodbye, Octavia.”

“Goodbye, Vinyl.”

Vinyl walked through the house and back towards the front door. The early morning light had painted the whole front room in a new palette. The only thing that hadn’t changed was the line splitting the room in two.

The line had always been there.

Past

Vinyl-

Hi. It’s me.

I hope this letter reaches you. I’ve tried a few times now, but I think my magic is still on the mend, so the letters could be anywhere, really.

I know things got really crazy over the past few… months, I guess. But I miss hanging out with you.

Our friendship is in need of a good dose of TLC. Let’s meet up at the club where we first met, and try to have a little fun!

Let me know what night works for you.

Here’s hoping this letter gets to you!

-Twilight

I sat back, read over my letter.

I had gotten better at this. Even I had to admit that.

Writing these letters was starting to feel like an exercise in futility, though. I wrote one a day, for the past five days, and sent it with a magical blast to Vinyl's location. It wasn’t unlike the spell used to contact ponies through the crystal pool… but, this time, it was much easier to focus on the intended recipient.

Mentally, that is. Physically… my head was still on the mend, post-concussion. Doing magic kind of felt like passing a kidney stone.

I would have just posted the letter through her mail slot--or, heck, gone over to speak with her face-to-face--but, wherever she was, it wasn't at the old house. Octavia wasn't there, either. I had spent a good few hours sitting on the porch, waiting for somepony to come by, and nopony did.

But I would fold up this letter, tuck it in an envelope, and send it off. Just like the others.

As I was rooting around in my desk drawer for a new box of envelopes, I heard a small sound downstairs. It was a bit like the fluttering of a bird's wings, with a gentle metallic squealing accentuating each wingbeat.

I paused and pricked an ear. I rolled the drawer shut as quietly as possible.

"Spike?" I yelled.

I could have sworn I heard a far-away groan. "Yeah?" The sound echoed down the halls of the castle.

"Can you check the door? I think I heard the mail slot."

This time, I definitely heard a groan. Longer and louder and twice as dramatic.

"Please?"

"Yeah…"

Spike's claws tapped delicately on the crystal floors, even with his exaggerated stomp-drag, stomp-drag gait. Once I heard him hit the stairs, I resumed searching my drawer for an envelope.

Just as I was sealing my newest letter shut, Spike knocked on my door.

"Twilight? You got a letter," he said, holding out a plain, white envelope.

"Oh!" I reached out to take it from him. "Thank you, Spike!"

I turned back to my desk and began to search for a letter opener. Everything was so much harder without magic… how did earth ponies and pegasi do it?

"How's your head?"

"Oh… it's been better, that's for sure." I laughed lightly, which made my head throb a bit.

The letter opener sliced cleanly through the top of the envelope. I blew into it, and a piece of notebook paper fluttered away from the side.

"Spike, could you…?" I held the envelope out to him.

Spiked reached into the envelope and pulled out the letter with his claws. "Well, you seem more Twilight-y now," Spike said. "So that's a relief."

I giggled. "Thanks, Spike."

Spike smiled, in that little-boy way where he really didn't want to be caught doing it, and handed me the letter.

Twi-

Happy to hear you're getting better! I thought your brain was gonna be soup forever hahaha

I got one of your letters. Sorry if you've been writing to me for a while, I swear this was the first one I got.

Let's meet up tonight at 9. I'll be in the corner.

-Vinyl

I got there early.

It's not that I wanted to be there before her. In fact, I didn't really want to be at the club at all. I just figured that was the best place to handle… you know. Friendship stuff. Since it was where our friendship started… and it was in public.

The corner seat was not as comfortable as it had been before. I’m not entirely certain if the change was in the seat or in myself.

I sat up as straight as I could, with my front hooves tucked delicately on behind the other. I’m sure I gave the impression of a nervous bird with the way I surveyed the crowd, my head flicking towards every small source of motion or sound in the place.

Was I aware that I was sitting like a student outside the principal's office? Yes.

Could I stop? No.

The music was different tonight. Very different. I didn’t have the words to describe it, exactly. It was probably played in a different key, or maybe a different mode, and it featured different instruments. But it wasn’t these standard elements that made it feel different, not really. No, there was something about this music that made my chest ache, and my head swim.

Maybe it was the concussion.

When Vinyl walked through the door, I was sucked right back to the moment that we met. Nervous, confused, othered. Wearing the same singular blue glowstick around my neck and just waiting for things to stop moving. Stop making sound. I wanted it to be still.

This was her place. I was the intruder.

Vinyl spotted me almost immediately. She smiled, but not a bright smile. This smile was kind of… relieved, almost. Bittersweet.

She moved towards me slowly. She had a funny hitch in her step, a kind of saunter that made her look even more a part of this place.

"Hey," she said. "You came."

I snorted. "Of course! How are you?"

Vinyl pushed her shades up above her horn, nestled into her mane. Her eyes had a curious new hue to them, a sort of pink to the red. Although maybe that was the colored floodlights.

"You kept the ear plugs, huh? I brought a spare pair for you." Vinyl held out two more of the little orange pellets.

"Of course I kept them," I said, tapping my ear.

Vinyl smiled. "That's pretty cute, princess."

I blushed and looked down at my lap. My own little private smile curled my lips. "Erm… I feel like things got crazy lately."

Vinyl flopped down into the seat beside me with a huge sigh. "Yeah. They did."

"But our friendship is really important to me," I said. “I don’t wanna stop seeing you just because… you know. We can still be friends.”

It was as if I'd shot Vinyl through the heart. She sort of looked up at the word ‘friendship’, but not at me, just at a distant spot on the wall. It was a quick motion. Purely reactionary. As the mood lighting danced over her face, I could see the look of… disappointment, I suppose. But deeper than that. A strong and vital disappointment that was making her rethink things.

"Sure, princess," Vinyl said. "Friends."

I could almost see the gears of her mind grind to a halt as she sat, her gaze wavering slightly, still not looking at me. She, at last, hung her head again, looking down at her hooves on the couch.

I swallowed. "So, what's new?"

The disappointment returned, with double the shock. "Uh…" She paused. Paused long enough to be considered a statue. Long enough that I thought maybe Vinyl wasn't exactly up for small talk.

"S-sorry… should we maybe talk about--" My voice suddenly caught in my throat. I coughed lightly. "Should we talk about… stuff?"

At last, Vinyl looked up at me. She was a good bit shorter than me when we were sitting like this. How had I not noticed that before?

"Uh… do you wanna talk about… stuff?" Vinyl asked haltingly.

I rubbed the back of my head. "If this was somepony else's problem, I would tell them to talk it out."

“But it’s our thing,” Vinyl said. “And it’s not a problem, really, it’s a… it’s just a thing, I dunno.”

I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry!” Vinyl laughed lightly. “Don’t be sorry. Really.”

I smiled tentatively. I have a feeling it looked a lot like Vinyl’s smile. “Okay.”

If we didn’t know better, we could have called it friendship. But this still didn’t feel like friendship. Friendship made you laugh ‘til your cheeks hurt, made you breathless from doing stupid stuff together, made you want to stop time forever while you all sat around your coffee table playing board games.

It didn’t make your chest hurt. It didn’t make your stomach flutter. It didn’t make you feel dizzy every time you talked. That was something else entirely.

The current performer finished his act. The dull sound of stomping hooves washed over me. Then, a fuzzy voice announcing someone new. The ear plugs made him sound like he was announcing from somewhere deep underwater.

A small group of ponies ambled into the stage. They all seemed to be carrying pretty traditional instruments.

I removed one ear plug curiously.

The drummer counted off on his sticks… and the lead guitar began to play.

A simple phrase. A few repeated notes. Like a lone voice, almost. There was something about the phrase that seemed… incomplete. Questioning. Sort of sad, or maybe reminiscent of a simpler time. The sound was raw in a way I’d never heard before, the difference between a trained singer and someone wailing along with a sad song on the radio.

“What would you call this music?” I asked Vinyl. “It’s different.”

“Uh…” Vinyl rubbed the back of her head thoughtfully. “Probably indie rock, or grunge. You like it?”

I chewed on my lip thoughtfully. “I dunno. It makes me feel… sad.”

“Good sad or bad sad?” Vinyl asked.

I looked down at Vinyl. “Good sad, I guess.”

Vinyl smiled a one-sided smile and nodded. “I shoulda pegged you as a grunge girl a long time ago.”

I chuckled breathlessly. “Why’s that?”

Vinyl shrugged. “Grunge is music for ponies who are different. Especially ponies who hate the things that make them different.”

I must have given her a strange look.

“Ah, that sounds all cutesy. It’s like--” She sighed. The words were in her mind, but not on her tongue. “It’s for ponies that feel alone, I guess. That’s how I hear it, anyway. And you seem to me like the kind of girl who used to be a little filly laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking really hard and feeling like shit.”

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s… specific.”

Vinyl shrugged. "I was that filly, too. I know one when I see one."

It made my chest ache.

I remember what it was like. Being a filly, that is. Feeling so alone and isolated from my peers, and yet loving wallowing in that feeling. Partly because it made me feel superior, I guess. But mostly because that time laying in bed and listening to music was the one time I wasn't under any kind of pressure.

That sounds sadder than it was.

Then again… maybe it doesn't.

But Vinyl had missed that part of her foalhood, too. That made it less sad. Definitely.

A bassist joined the guitarist. Its sound was deep and rich, a perfect singular tone. It supported the guitar’s lonesome wailing perfectly.

“Was that too deep?” Vinyl asked. “Sometimes I say weird shit when I talk about music. You gotta stop me if I get weird.”

“No!” Without thinking, I put my hoof on Vinyl’s. “I’d never ask you to stop.”

Vinyl blushed. She avoided my gaze, but did not remove her hoof.

Realizing my mistake, I slowly removed my hoof. “I… I talk that way about books all the time.”

Vinyl grinned. “Yeah?”

I giggled. “Yeah. Probably way too much.”

“Aw, come on, Twi. You couldn’t talk too much if you tried,” Vinyl said.

“What?!” I snorted. “You should try spending more time with me. I always talk too much.”

Vinyl scoffed. “I know you talk a lot, princess. I meant, like-- no matter how much you talk, it would never be too much.”

It was my turn to blush. Desperately trying to avoid Vinyl’s eyes, I looked up at the stage. The guitarist and the bassist had started to sing together, hitting their tones in a way that sounded like a singular voice echoing up from a very deep canyon. They sort of sang to each other, I noticed. Working in sync. Like they were the only two ponies in the room.

I'm sure there's a musical term for it.

Or maybe not.

“So… if you were a grunge girl, what’s with all the dance music?” I asked.

Vinyl shook her head. “I told you, Twi-- the DJ thing is just a gig. I gotta pay the bills somehow. Music is my thing.

“You know, I got my cutie mark laying in bed. I was listening to a record on a crappy, old record-player and feeling like dogshit because I’d failed some exam at school. My parents are both teachers, and a part of me thought that meant I’d have to be a teacher, too.”

I chuckled lightly.

Vinyl looked over at me slyly. “I was laying there in bed, and I closed my eyes…” She did so, tilting her head back a little. “And I listened to the music. I remember singing along a little. And the longer I laid there, the more I felt this burning in my chest.” She put a hoof on her sternum.

I did the same, almost unconsciously.

“And I sort of… channeled it through my horn,” Vinyl said. She opened her eyes and looked at me. “It sounds corny, but it made the music sound so much clearer, even on that terrible old record-player. It felt like the band was there with me, feeling the same thing. Like we were all playing together.”

I smiled down at her. If I had only seen her… if I had never spoken to her, never sat with her in a place like this… I would have no idea. Does anypony know? Does anypony know how absolutely wonderful Vinyl Scratch is?

Vinyl chuckled a bit. “Twi, you look all teary. Stories like that really get to the Princess of Friendship, huh?”

“Maybe a little,” I said, with a sheepish little smile.

Vinyl smiled. “It’s sweet. You’ve got something special in you, y’know.”

I scoffed.

“Hey, I’m serious,” Vinyl said. “There’s a lot of ponies out there who are, like, fake nice. They just do good stuff because they think other ponies will like them or pat them on the back or whatever. But you’re not like that at all, are you?”

“Gosh, I hope not,” I said, laughing a little.

“You’re not, you’re not! Ah, that sounded so dumb when I said it.” Vinyl but her face in her hooves. “You’re, like, actually good. That’s what I meant. If nopony was watching, you’d still be good.”

I sighed. “That’s nice of you to say, but I haven’t always been like that.”

Vinyl scoffed. “Who cares about ‘always’? You’re good now. That’s all I can ask, y’know? I used to be a classic rock snob, but I’m mature now.” She made a funny face and gestured to herself, attempting an air of refinement but stopping sort at fake-snooty.

I laughed.

Vinyl laughed, too.

Then we were quiet. A good, peaceful quiet.

The song hit another lull. Only the guitar player, back to his old riff.

No… not quite true. The bass was still playing, now playing its own phrase, but so skillfully weaving itself around the notes of the guitar that it sounded like one inextricable whole. The musicians were looking at each as they played, watching closely as their hooves moved along the strings, as they plucked in unison…

"Hey." Vinyl reached out and put a hoof on mine.

I jolted a little bit. The music had absorbed me so thoroughly that I could hardly remember where I was.

"I… I've said a lot of stupid stuff lately,” Vinyl said. “And I'm really sorry, Twi."

My breath hitched in my throat at her touch. "I thought we weren’t going to talk about--”

"I'm serious, princess," Vinyl said, almost pleading. She pressed her hoof against mine a little harder, and I felt the blood rush to my head. "I'm sorry."

"Oh." I was honestly surprised by Vinyl's apology. Her hoof on mine… my heart was pounding against my ribcage. "There's nothing to be sorry for."

Vinyl shook her head. "Of course there is, princess. I put you in such an awful position, and I was so wrapped up in my own crap that I couldn’t see--” She stopped, sighed, and shook her head. “I wish I knew how to make it right, or take it back, but the best I can do is apologize."

I blinked. "Well… thank you."

My face was hot. Really hot. Was I blushing? Blushing hard?

Oh, Celestia, my stomach, too-- my head was reeling, my stomach fluttering, my chest aching…

Was I ready to talk about this?

"And--" Vinyl stopped to take a deep breath. "I just-- I feel like I was always running away, or you were running away, or something was interrupting us. There was always something there to stop us from just… just talking, y'know?"

I nodded. It felt like my jaw was wired shut.

"So I guess I wanted to ask you. H-how you… feel." She looked down at her lap. Her hoof withdrew from mine very slowly. Like she was ashamed.

"I… miss you," I said. The blush was creeping across my face rapidly, feeling more like a rash now. "And I still want to… t-to spend time with you."

My heart was pounding.

I’d messed up.

I wasn’t ready to talk to her again. I still liked her. I still thought she was smart and cool and amazing and gorgeous and I couldn’t just be friends, I couldn’t, I couldn’t!

Vinyl swallowed. "Twilight, I gotta tell you something.”.

I couldn’t even nod anymore. I just stared at her, doe-eyed and confused.

"I'm sorry. I wanted tonight to be really easy and casual, I really did. But…”

I still couldn’t speak. Wake up, Twilight!

"I broke up with Octavia," Vinyl said.

Well.

That wasn’t what I expected.

Broken up?

Like… broken up broken up?

But… they had lived together.

For a long time.

Was it because of me? Was it because Vinyl was confused, now, too? Had I done this, had I ruined her relationship?

"Wh--" I shook my head slightly. "When?"

Vinyl put her face in her hooves. "About a week ago. I'm going crazy, Twilight."

I reached out to stroke her shoulder, but thought better of it and withdrew my hoof. "I'm sorry, Vinyl."

Vinyl sighed, a long and tortured sound. The kind of sound you make when you're doing everything you can not to cry, or maybe just prove to other ponies that you’re definitely not crying. No way. I wouldn’t cry over this.

"It’s weird, though," Vinyl said. "I'm not sad. I'm sort of… relieved. Does that make me a bad pony?" She looked up at me. Her eyes were huge.

Like instinct, my Mentorship Mode kicked on.

"No! No, of course not," I said. "Don't be silly, of course it doesn't."

The song ended, with only the sound of the guitar echoing through the room. The room began to stomp their hooves once again.

"Let's go back to my place, okay?" I said.

Vinyl took a shaky breath. "Now?"

I smiled weakly. "This isn't the right time to be in a place like this."

"You don't mind, do you?" Vinyl asked.

"Of course not."

She let out a huge breath. "Oh, thank you. Thank you, Twi-- I’m sorry, I really just wanted to hang out, I swear." She looked up at me. “I just wanted to be with you right now.”

I stood up. "Seriously, Vinyl, it’s nothing."

Vinyl stood, too. I could see, now, that the hitch in her step was an uncomfortable limp. Probably from couch-surfing. That the vibrant red in her eyes was not the spark of joy and friendship… it was from crying.

We left the club in silence and began to walk back towards my castle.

"Do… do you wanna talk about it?" I asked.

Vinyl nickered lightly. "Oh, Celestia, what is there to say?"

"Well… what happened?" I asked. "I-if you don't mind me asking."

Vinyl blinked slowly. "No, no. I don't mind." She sighed. "I dunno. She went home and her-- her parents were divorced. Apparently it made her rethink some stuff. She decided she didn't want a relationship she had to work at."

I cocked my head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno. I think that she wants something… easier. Or somepony easier, I guess." Vinyl kicked at a stone in the street and watched it slitter away. "We just didn't make sense."

I nodded slowly. But I didn't understand.

"I-- I was questioning it too, y'know," Vinyl said, her voice barely about a whisper. "I think I felt some stuff I hadn't felt before… not just with her. Maybe ever."

My heart sped up, crawling its way up into my throat. I tried to steady my breathing, but I don't think I was successful. "Oh?"

Vinyl sighed. "Yeah. I think it helped me realize I was in the wrong place, y'know?"

"Right."

"I mean, you met Tavi. What did you think of her?" Vinyl asked.

"Uh…" What did I think of Octavia? Oh, jeez… what did I think of Octavia?

"You can be honest."

I chuckled under my breath. "I dunno. She seemed okay to me."

“You can be really honest.”

I took a deep breath. “I-- I didn’t really get you guys.”

"Yeah." Vinyl nodded. "We never had much in common. We really only got together because we were both figuring ourselves out and happened to be doing it near each other, y’know? I guess it wasn't enough."

We turned a corner together. The castle was at the end of the road.

"Are you doing okay?" I asked softly.

"Like I said, I'm just not that sad," Vinyl said. "I miss her, I guess. But not romantically. Like… she was just a pony who was in my life for four years and now… she's not. It feels weird to not be planning my day around her, or talking to her about little stuff, or just being near her… y’know?"

The night air was fresh and crisp. The breeze picked up for a moment, and I shivered.

“Yeah. I do,” I said.

I kind of knew what that was like. Not romantically. But to lose somepony like that. Have them in your life for so long and then just… not. It felt weird. Even if you didn't particularly like the pony in question. But especially if you did.

Vinyl fell a few steps behind me as we approached the castle. I slipped my key into the lock and twisted.

The castle was dark. By now, although we'd barely been at the club twenty minutes, Spike would be in bed.

"Would you like some tea?" I offered, flicking on the lights.

Vinyl was looking up at the ceiling, her jaw agape. "Uh… do you have honey?"

"Sure do," I said.

We ambled into the kitchen together, hoofsteps echoing arrhythmically on the crystal floors.

The kitchen was small. Not at all what came to mind with the phrase “castle kitchen”. Pinkie probably would have been disappointed, but I didn’t use the kitchen for much besides tea and toast, so it suited me fine.

I crouched down to pull out the kettle from a low cabinet. "Where are you living now?" I asked. "I just-- you're not still living with Octavia, are you?"

Vinyl jumped up onto the counter and sat down. "No. I'm crashing with some friends. Lyra and BonBon, I've known them forever." She was looking down at her back hooves, swinging tem idly over the tile floor.

I walked the kettle over to the sink, turned the water on, and forced the kettle under the stream. "I guess… they know Octavia, too, then?" I asked.

Vinyl nodded. "Yep."

I opened my mouth to respond, but thought better of it.

I dropped the filled kettle down on the front burner a little harder than I meant to. The metal casing of the burner rattled.

"Magic’s still on the mend, huh?"

I laughed sarcastically. "How did you know?" I had to stretch all the way across the stovetop to reach the controls.

"Whoa!" Vinyl hopped down from the counter. "Better let me do that, princess."

She came to my side, and sort of hip-checked me out of the way. Not hard enough for me to actually go anywhere, of course; more like a subtle instruction. I withdrew my hoof, but didn’t move away. Just held onto my mane to keep it out of the way of the flame.

Vinyl’s flank was touching mine. Almost touching. It was hairs-against-hairs, a prickly feeling that made me shiver.

She turned on the flame with her magic. The kettle started to rumble.

Vinyl stepped to the side--separating us, but only barely--and looked at me expectantly.

"Why do you keep calling me princess?" I asked.

"Oh." Vinyl's eyes flicked upwards. "I dunno. I thought it was, like, a cool nickname. Do you not like it?"

We were close. Not touching, but close. We hadn't been this close since game night, I thought. Since she was leaning in to kiss me, her breath on my neck, her eyes fixed on mine…

"I just feel like… I mean, I don't really feel like a princess. Not all the time," I said.

"Don't you want to?" Vinyl asked.

"Not always," I said. I rubbed my foreleg absent-mindedly. "Sometimes. But most of the time I just wanna be normal. Especially when I'm with… friends."

Vinyl smiled a little bit. Another sad smile. "I hear ya, Twi."

I smiled back in affirmation.

The kettle kept rumbling.

I felt like I could still hear the music from the club. Like it was rumbling in my ears, along with the kettle. Like the best was synched to the best of my heart, hammering against my ribs, desperate to escape.

"You said…" I licked my lips. "You said that, uh. Some things had made you rethink… stuff."

Vinyl's cheeks bloomed. "Uh, yeah. Just general things, y'know? Like… life. In general."

I cocked my head. "Oh?"

"Yeah, y'know." Vinyl shrugged. "Sometimes stuff just happens and… stuff happened. I dunno."

"Hm."

The rumble was quieting, replaced by a burgeoning whistle.

I snapped out of my closeness to Vinyl, bustling over to the nearby cabinet filled with mugs. Then, staring at the open cabinet, I realized that maybe I shouldn't try to retrieve breakable objects from a position above my head without magic.

"Uh, Vinyl, could you…?" I pointed up at the cabinet.

"Oh, sure!" She rushed to my side once again, all too eager to help out.

She levitated two mugs downs and placed them on the counter.

"Thanks," I said.

"Sure." Vinyl shuffled her hooves a bit. "Let me guess: tea bags are also somewhere high up?"

“That one,” I said, pointing to my left.

Vinyl squeezed around behind me and opened the cabinet. There was something easy about the way we moved together in here, I thought. Such a small space, and yet we wouldn’t have needed more.

She popped opened a box and dropped one tea bag into each mug.

Then, without asking, she passed me again, holding both mugs in her magic. She turned off the stovetop. The whistling of the kettle died out quickly.

I watched quietly as Vinyl gently poured the hot water into each mug. She was so focused.

“Alright,” Vinyl said, placing the kettle back on the stovetop. “Three minutes to tea. Impressed?”

I chuckled. “It’s only tea, Vinyl.”

“Hey, hey-- Princess Celestia pays good money for somepony to fix her tea.” Vinyl smirked. “If it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” I said, suppressing a giggle.

“But it sounds good,” Vinyl said. “And that’s the name of the game in music.”

“I can’t argue with that,” I said.

The tea sat quietly on the counter.

Vinyl and I stood quietly across from one another.

I mean, you tell me what I was supposed to say in this scenario. What do you say to a pony you’re clearly interested in when she breaks up with her marefriend? I’m sorry? Yay, me?

Three minutes was a really long time when you had to keep yourself from talking.

I wanted Vinyl to talk. I wanted her to just tell me what was going on in her head. Just be clear with me about what she wanted, how she thought of me, who I was to her. I just wanted her to talk and talk and talk and I would gladly stand and listen through the night and into the morning.

"Is it cold in here?" I asked suddenly.

Vinyl seemed surprised. "Um… no, not really. Are you cold?"

I shrugged. "N-no, but it… it gets cold in here sometimes."

"Huh."

What a stupid thing to ask.

At least say something that makes sense if you're gonna fill the silence, Twilight.

"You can sleep here tonight," I said. "If you want. If it's not too cold."

Vinyl shook her head. "It's not cold, I told you."

"So you'll stay here?"

"Nah." Vinyl looked at me. "Lyra and BonBon live pretty close. I don't need to put you out like that."

"It wouldn't put me out," I insisted.

"It's really okay, Twi," Vinyl said. "I have a place to stay."

"Okay."

I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Is that awful of me?

I wanted her here. I wanted her close. I wanted to wake up to her sleeping on my couch, make her some breakfast, talk more by the light of day. I wanted her to be near me when I woke up.

"That's about it for the tea," Vinyl said.

"Already?" I asked.

Vinyl nodded, winked at me. "Don't worry. I've got an amazing internal timer. I've done this with Octavia a thousand times."

"Right," I said.

Vinyl made a vague motion that was adjacent to a shrug, yet somehow expressed something entirely different. She moved to the mugs on the counter.

I clambered up onto a stool at the corner of my marble kitchen island.

I watched Vinyl in a sort of haze as she pulled out the tea bags, squeezed them dry, and tossed them into the trash. She spotted the honey out on the counter, found the spoons on her own, and began to add a spoonful to each mug.

I could see her there for a long time. I could see her doing this every evening while we sat at the island and talked.

"Here ya go," she said, setting my mug down in front of me.

Vinyl took her seat at the corner beside me. Her tail did this funny little flick as it settled along the wooden rungs of the stool.

"Thank you," I said.

Vinyl smiled. Then she puckered her lips and blew gently over the top of the mug, watching the steam scatter and reform.

I looked down into my mug. Even in the dark liquid, I could see my reflection; tired. A little sad. A little happy.

“Twilight?”

“Hm?” I lifted my head quite suddenly to look at Vinyl. I’m sure I looked like a confused animal.

“Do you… do you remember what you said when I came to visit you?” Vinyl asked. “When you were hurt.”

I squinted at her. “Uh…” I tried to recall, but the memories were all hazy, smothered in vaseline and stuffed with cotton. “Like, specifically?”

“Yeah,” Vinyl said.

Wow. Turns out remembering was like passing a kidney stone, too. “I… not anything specific. Why, what do you remember?”

Vinyl took a deep breath. “You said… you said that…” She let the breath out, took in another. “What happened in the bookstore. You said I couldn’t take it back, because it was ours. And you meant it.”

I scoffed. “What?! No… no, that doesn’t sound like me.” I was shaking my head a lot, probably more than anypony would ever need to. “No, I wouldn't say that.”

“You did, though,” Vinyl said. “You said you meant it.”

“No, no I wouldn't say--”

Did I, though?

“If it was just-- just talk, that’s fine,” Vinyl said. Her voice was sort of straining. “It’s cool. Really. We’ll just move on."

She looked at me. Bloodshot tendrils reached into her shimmering eyes.

"But… look, I'm feeling really jerked around lately. I need to know where we stand."

Me, too.

"So… did you mean it?"

My heart skipped a beat.

Did I?

I didn't remember saying it.

"I, uh…" I couldn't stop blinking. Why was I blinking so much? "I… I don't really remember--"

"Do you mean it… now?" Vinyl asked. "If you said it now, would you mean it?"

"I--" My breathing was so heavy and fast. I could hardly control it. "Vinyl, I--"

"Come on, Twilight, you owe me this," Vinyl said.

"Yes!" I blurted.

Everything stopped.

Vinyl's eyes stared straight into mine, her mouth open the tiniest bit. Her chest was heaving, too. Was she as nervous as I was? Had she always been?

"No! I mean… yes. But that doesn't matter, because--"

"Y-yes?" Vinyl repeated.

I sighed. I felt like I was going to cry for some reason. "Yes, okay? Yes. I meant it."

"And you still do?" Vinyl asked. Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I…"

I looked at her.

And I saw a mare who was like me in all the important ways.

She liked music the way I liked books; anything she could get her hooves on was fair game. She just wanted to fill herself with as many melodies as she could, and share them freely with everypony she knew.

She had been lonely, too. She had felt out of place for so long. She knew what it was like to be an outsider.

She cared. She cared about things, whether they were worth caring about or not.

And… she was beautiful.

I lifted my hoof. Tentatively.

Vinyl's eyes did not leave mine.

I touched her jaw. She shivered a little, but still looked right at me.

"Yes," I said.

Vinyl sorted of chuckled. Just one short sound of relief and happiness. The fur on her neck rippled with the sound.

She didn't say anything. I'm not sure she could have.

Her hoof reached behind my head, and she pulled me close.

It was our second kiss.

It was twice as magical as the first.

Quote

"Twilight."

I moaned softly.

Even filtered through my curtains, the morning sun was too intense to open my eyes. I rolled away from it and pulled my blanket higher.

"Twilight…" she said again, this time like a little song. I could feel her breath on my face, warm and gentle.

I moaned a little louder. "No… five more minutes…" I yanked the blanket all the way over my head.

"Hey." I felt a hoof on my shoulder. "Twi."

Sort of serious.

I pulled the blanket down slowly, and snuck one eye open.

There, right by the side of my bed, stood Vinyl. Her mane was a mess. She had bags under her eyes. She was squinting into the morning sun. She looked, generally, like a sleep-deprived mess. But she was smiling.

"Hey, there she is."

Vinyl began to pull away, her grip behind my head loosening.

When our lips parted, I kept my eyes closed, desperately trying to keep the fluttery feeling in my chest alive.

At last I opened my eyes. I’m sure they were as wide as dinner plates. Vinyl’s were sort of dark, focused, a little intimidating; even in the dim light of the kitchen, they sparkled with a deep determination I had never seen before.

Her horn brightened. A cloud of blue magic began to pour from its tip.

“What are you doing?” I asked softly.

The magic surrounded me, wrapped me in a warm and tingling embrace. Before I knew it, I was swept off the stool. I let out a small gasp.

Vinyl was cradling me, looking down at me with that same focus and near ferocity. “Don’t overthink it, Princess,” she said.

She walked slowly, her mind focused on her magic. I just stared up at her face the whole time, watching the little motions of her eyebrows, her lips, as she held me tight and carried me up the stairs and--

My eyes were open now. "Oh. Oh!"

Vinyl chuckled. She was grinning, a real, genuine smile. "So, funny story--"

"Did we--" I put a hoof over my mouth. Then, in a harsh whisper: "did we sleep together last night?!"

Vinyl gave me a look which said 'disappointed, but not surprised'. "Not great for my self-esteem that you can't remember, but I'll let it slide. Anyway, funny story--"

"Oh, Celestia!" I struggled into a sitting position, holding the blanket up to my collarbone. "I-- are you-- I mean--"

Vinyl held up one hoof. "I hear you. Your mind is blown. But you're really gonna wanna hear--"

“You’ve only been single for a week, Vinyl!” I hissed. “How could we do this?”

My heart felt like it was being strangled by a boa constrictor. The very thing that I’d so cavalierly damned other ponies for, I had now committed. Getting together with a pony who had barely even broken up with her previous love… of four years. Not exactly infidelity, but uncomfortably close to it.

Vinyl opened her mouth, then seemed to consider what I’d said. “Okay! I hear that, that’s something we might want to address in the future, but right now--”

“What?!” I demanded.

Vinyl’s eyes went wide. She bit down on her bottom lip. “Well… so, this morning, I woke up and I thought ‘gee, wouldn’t it be nice for Twilight if I fixed her some breakfast?’ So I went downstairs and--”

“The kitchen’s on fire?!” I guessed. My breathing was ragged.

“Whoa,” Vinyl sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped her foreleg around my lower back.

My wings puffed at her touch.

“Twi, everything’s okay,” Vinyl said.

“Is it, though?” I asked.

Vinyl sighed. “Two of your friends are here.” She looked at me with a sort of part-smile, part-grimace that said ‘please, please, please let it be okay’.

My heart dropped into my hooves. “Di--” I swallowed. “Did they see you?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a pounding at the door.

“Twilight? You in there?” Applejack’s voice. She sounded… confused.

“Is everything alright, darling?” Rarity’s voice. Very concerned.

“Oh, no…” I whispered, burying my face in my hooves.

“I’m sorry,” Vinyl whispered back. “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with--”

“Shush!” I hushed her. She looked a little hurt. “Sorry. Just… stay here. Please."

Vinyl climbed up onto the mattress and sat there, looking oh-so casual. Like she belonged there, almost. I could hardly take my eyes off her. Somewhere, in the back corner of my mind I was just shouting 'Vinyl is in my bedroom!' over and over and over again.

I rolled clumsily out of bed and managed to make it to the door. Though I never had before, I found myself wishing my bedroom door had a peephole, or even just an unusually large keyhole.

It did not, so I manually unlatched the door and opened in about an inch.

On the other side of the door stood Rarity and Applejack, each looking confused and concerned in approximately equal measure.

Rarity did a sort of double take. “Oh! There you are, Twilight.” Her face crumpled from shock to relief. “Are you alright?”

I squinted at her, and hesitantly opened the door another half-inch. “What makes you think I’m not okay?”

“We heard you go runnin’ upstairs without sayin’ hello,” Applejack said. “Are you sick or something?”

Ah.

So they hadn’t seen Vinyl.

“Oh!” The gears in my mind were spinning, but not near fast enough. “I was just… just…”

Every nook and cranny of my normally working mind was either bruised or occupied. All I could think about was the way she had held me. The feeling of her hooves along my spine, gently cradling, while she kissed me again and again and again…

Rarity pricked an ear expectantly. “Just?”

“Fixing my mane!” I blurted. “I just-- I had some really bad bedhead and I… wasn’t ready for visitors!”

Nailed it.

Applejack’s eyes narrowed considerably. “Right…”

She sort of stretched up a little bit in an effort to see the bedroom beyond me. I stretched up to meet her height and block the view with my own head.

“Goodness.” Rarity put a hoof on her chest. “Our apologies, Twilight. It’s very rude to interrupt another mare’s beauty routine.”

“Oh, no! No, it’s--” I stopped, cleared my throat. “Er, well… just, uh, give me a few minutes and I’ll come right down.”

I closed the door gently, with what I hope was a convincing smile plastered onto my looming face until the very last second.

With the door closed, I whirled about and pressed back against it.

I looked at Vinyl, then nodded to the window. Escape!

Vinyl shook her head vigorously, pointed to my wings, and pointed to her bare back. Hell fucking no!

I closed my eyes and rocked my head back against the door.

No way out.

I skittered to the side of the bed and put a hoof on Vinyl’s shoulder. “I don’t know how long they’ll be here. Do you have to pee? Scratch that-- if you do have to pee, you can use--”

“Twilight,” Vinyl said softly. She put her hoof on my cheek, and I swear my knees actually knocked. “Why don’t I just go down with you?”

“Because!” I hissed. “I’m-- I’m not ready!”

Vinyl sighed, a little knowing smile on her lips. “Twilight, they're your friends. I mean, it's not like we did anything wrong."

I whimpered and shuffled my hooves impatiently.

"Or I could stay here and pee in a jar until you're comfortable," Vinyl said. More of a tease than anything else.

"Really?" I asked softly.

Vinyl looked at me. "Yeah. Yeah, of course."

"Thank you!" I just about tackled Vinyl in a hug. "Thank you, thank you!"

Vinyl patted me on the back. She was laughing a little, which I felt more than heard. "Hey, I'm your guest, right?"

I held her away from me. "I'll get them out of here as quick as I can, okay?"

"Deal," she said.

I gave Vinyl one last squeeze, then scuttled back over to the door.

I pulled the door open slowly and cautiously, looking both ways for any signs of my unexpected guests, then ventured into the hall. The door clicked quietly shut behind me.

A little sigh of relief snuck out.

Alright.

Just relax!

You have nothing to hide. Just find out what your friends want, and get them out.

Piece of cake.

I paused there in the hall to compose myself. Head held high, impeccable posture, an easy-going smile… and a mane without the tell-tale knots in the back.

Hm. Ironic that I'd forgotten to check my mane in the mirror.

My magic was still pretty spotty, but I managed to tug my mane into what felt like a normal shape.

I took one deep breath, let it out. Then another.

Okay.

Down the stairs.

Not too fast, Twilight. They'll know something's up. Not too slow, either!

"There y'are," Applejack said. She strangely looked a lot like I felt: trying to act normal when she knew better.

"Hi!" I said. Perhaps too cheerfully.

It's so hard to tell if the things you're doing are crazy… everything feels suspicious when you're anxious. Breathing? Suspicious. Blinking? Suspicious. Heart beating? Suspicious. Don't even get me started on walking and talking.

The girls were examining the cutie map curiously.

"Twilight, have you ever seen the map do this?" Rarity asked.

Gosh, how had I missed it? Rarity and Applejack's flanks were both pulsing and glowing, the images of their cutie marks swirling about the miniature castle on the map.

A wave of relief washed over me.

They were here for the map! Of course!

"We think it's stuck," Applejack said. "Just been spinning around like this since we got here."

I took a few steps closer, coming to stand between my friends, and placed my hoof on the table. "Huh. That is weird."

"So you haven't seen it do this before?" Rarity asked. "I was worried you would say that."

"What do we do? Should we stay here until--"

"No!" I blurted.

Rarity and Applejack glanced over their shoulders at me. They both had a similarly sensitive bullshit meter, to the point where they honestly looked like each other's reflection.

I swallowed. "Um… well, maybe the friendship problem is just so close that the map is confused! Did you see anything fishy outside?"

Applejack turned to look at me, leaning back against the table's edge. "I'm seeing something fishy right now." Her jaw was set. Her lips a tight line. Oh, gosh…

"Oh, Applejack," Rarity scolded, giving her friend a playful jab in the ribs. She then glanced at me. "Darling, are you sure you're alright? I know enough to know when you're stressed. You can tell us if something's wrong, you know."

"I'm fine!" I insisted, although I get the feeling it wasn't incredibly convincing. "Let's just focus on the friendship problem, okay?"

Applejack looked at me.

I looked back at her.

Her eyes searched mine for a hint of mistruth.

I tried to think only about how thirsty I was.

"Alright…" Applejack murmured. "Well, do you think this has anything to do with your, uh… injury?"

I put a hoof up to my head. "My concussion? As far as I know, the map sort of… has its own magic. It shouldn't need me to work."

"Is Spike home?" Rarity asked. "Maybe he has a problem we're meant to help with."

Was Spike home?

Had he been home when…

"He's fine! Just sleeping," I said.

"Well, then, what's new with you?" Applejack asked. "Anything problematic?"

She laughed heartily, as if this were simply impossible. As if I, Twilight Sparkle, had not and could not make a choice that was widely considered poor.

I wondered how, in the more than five years she had known me, Applejack thought I couldn't make a mistake. I mean… she'd been a part of several.

Rarity joined in on the laughter a moment later. "Unless having a bad hair day is considered a friendship problem, I sincerely doubt it."

My hoof went to the back of my head unconsciously. I couldn't help but remember the way my head had rocked backwards against the pillows, over and over…

"Yep! No problems, here!" I agreed. "Why don't you two go check outside?"

But Rarity was looking past me, sort of over my shoulder.

"Rarity?" I waved a hoof in front of her face.

She leaned around it. "I didn't think Spike liked tea."

I scoffed. "He doesn't. What makes you--"

Oh.

Oh, shit.

I whirled around.

Two mugs of tea, long cold by now, sitting on the corner of the kitchen island. Abandoned for bigger and better things, I suppose you could say.

"Oh! Th-that's…" I looked back at Rarity. "Hot cocoa?"

Applejack said nothing, just went stalking towards the kitchen.

I thought about stopping her, then thought how guilty it would look if I did. I watched in a sheer panic as Applejack examined the liquids in each mug.

"Actually," I said, my voice climbing in pitch, "last night I did give Spike tea because-- because I enchanted it to help him sleep better!"

"With a concussion?" Rarity asked.

"It's tea!" Applejack exclaimed. "You're lying to us!"

"No!" I shouted. "I mean-- yes?"

Rarity and Applejack's faces contorted in precisely the same way as they leaned closer to me: thoughtful, confused, suspicious.

"Yes?!" Rarity repeated incredulously.

"I mean, no! I'm not lying, I just--" I cleared my throat. Then cleared it again. "I'm just--"

Think, Twilight, think!

If only I didn't have this damn concussion, then I'd be able to--

Ah-ha.

I clucked my tongue. "Y'know, with my concussion, I've just been so forgetful."

Applejack set her jaw. "Really?"

I looked down at a particularly bland patch of floor to my left. "It's… it's a symptom."

Applejack looked to Rarity for confirmation.

Rarity nodded.

"Well, alright, I guess--"

"Darling, that's awful!" Rarity rushed to me and wrapped me in a gentle hug. I gave her a half-hearted pat on the back with one hoof.

"So… who's here, then?" Applejack asked. "Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy? I know it ain't Rainbow."

Rarity backed off a bit, holding me away from her.

"It's, uh…" I scratched the side of my head with one hoof. Just stare at the ceiling, Twi. The answers are there. "Y'know, I can't quite, uh… remember."

A look of abject horror washed through Rarity, then Applejack.

"You don't know who is in your home?!" Rarity looked as if she may just pass out.

"Rarity, please," Applejack murmured. She looked up at me. "Uh… think you oughta be gettin' back to the doctor, then?"

"Ah…" I waved one hoof. I have absolutely no idea what I meant by this combination of actions.

"Well, we'd better get you to bed," Rarity said. "And we can check for a guest while we're at it."

Whoops.

At that point, I may have just short-circuited entirely. It felt as if whatever fragile truss had been supporting my brain's delicate functions had fractured completely. I may as well have been trying to perform a spell with a popsicle stick instead of a horn.

Despite this, I opened my mouth to try to respond. "Uh--"

"Yeah, I think we'd better," Applejack agreed. Her tone was so dark, though, it almost sounded like a threat.

She took off at a brisk trot. Rarity wrapped one hoof around my shoulders and started to walk me toward the stairs. Lucky for me, I didn't have to pretend I was having trouble walking.

"You know, I really can handle this myself!" I called after Applejack.

"Nonsense, Twilight," Rarity said. "Let us help you to bed."

Applejack reached the top of the stairs and made a beeline for my bedroom. She was true to her element. That mare could smell the truth a mile off.

"Oh, Applejack, I have a guest room just around--"

Bur Applejack was already turning the knob.

Vinyl was laid across my bed like a starfish, staring up at the ceiling, humming softly to herself. She looked really peaceful, I thought. For a second, I could see the young Vinyl, splayed across her foal-sized bed and learning about the magic of music for the first time.

That moment ended as soon as Vinyl realized that it wasn't me opening the door.

She shot up straight and looked right at Applejack and Rarity, her eyes wide. The eggshell-white hue of her coat drained away to a color far more pure and sickly. She was totally mute.

It took a second for my brain to kick on.

"Oh, my--" I faked some laughter, hoping it came out more genuine than it felt. "Vinyl Scratch! Where did you come from?"

Vinyl blinked and slowly raised a hoof to her chest. Me?

I smiled wider and raised my eyebrows as high as they would go, nodding first to Applejack, then to Rarity. Play along!

"Where did I come from?" Vinyl repeated. She chuckled, too, a sound just as alien as my laughter. "Where will I go? Where did I come from… right?"

Rarity cocked her head. "I'm sorry, are those the lyrics to--"

"Vinyl!" I exclaimed, trotting over to the bed with as much confidence as I could muster. "Wow, I-- I've just been so forgetful since my concussion! When did you get here?"

"Uh…" Vinyl looked up at me for guidance, of which I could give her none. "I… forget?"

All in attendance were silent for a moment.

Needing to break the tension, I laughed uproariously. "Oh, Vinyl! That's-- you're so funny!"

Vinyl looked sidelong at me. Her eyes seemed to beg silently for some sort of direction. Though I gave her none, she started to laugh along with me. It was kind of like listening to an old fairground ride start up.

"It's a little bit funny," she said. "The feeling inside. And it's-- it sure isn't something I can easily hide!"

"Why in Equestria are you rhyming?" Applejack demanded with a stomp of her hoof. She quickly recoiled. "Nevermind, don't answer that."

I gave Vinyl a confused look. Why are you rhyming?!

She stared at me helplessly. I don't know!

"Vinyl, darling, when did you get here?" Rarity asked. Though her language was polite, her tone was stern.

Vinyl's mouth was just sort of hanging open. I thought I could hear a low, sustained sound from deep in her throat… something like a very, very long 'uh'. And she was sweating, too; I could see the sheen on her forehead from here. It was already starting to mat her fur-- I mean, shit, how fast can you even work up a sweat like that?

I cleared my throat.

Vinyl whipped her head over to look at me.

I wiggled my eyebrows. Well?

She stared at me with the energy and presence of a trout in the dead of winter.

"Wasn't it last night?" I prompted through grit teeth. "That you got here?"

The trout blinked, but did little else.

"For tea?" I gave her a little jab in the side.

Vinyl swallowed. "There was tea." She looked back at Applejack and Rarity. "Tea for two and two for tea! Y-you could say…"

"Quit quotin' show tunes!" Applejack stomped her hoof again. "Y'all better start telling me the truth or so help me--"

"Applejack, that wasn't a show tune," Rarity gently pointed out.

"I don't give two bits!" Applejack shouted. She trained her gaze on me. "Twilight, come on. Just tell us the truth! I'm the element of honesty, for fuck's sake!"

Rarity nodded slowly. "A-and… if you two could be a little be more generous with your information, then maybe--"

"Not the time, Rarity," Applejack said plainly.

Rarity made a sound of utter disgust. "The map called me, too, Applejack."

I scoffed. "Are you calling me a friendship problem?"

"Well, what in the name of Tartarus is goin' on here?" Applejack demanded, gesturing wildly to both me and Vinyl. "Sure don't look like friendship to me!"

I could actually see the shiver travel up Vinyl's spine. "Uh… maybe I should go."

I turned to look at her. "Vinyl--"

"I think perhaps you should," Rarity said. "It seems we need to have a talk with Twilight."

Rarity and Applejack gave me duplicate withering looks.

I folded my hooves over my chest. "What if I don't want to talk, hm?"

"Twilight, come on," Vinyl said, putting a hoof on my shoulder. "Friends come first, okay?"

I looked at Vinyl for a moment. Her eyes were soft and warm. She seemed entirely serious.

I sighed. "Okay."

Vinyl nodded, then stood to leave.

Rarity and Applejack did not seem moved by Vinyl's priorities. They each took one step away from the other, creating a space barely wide enough for Vinyl to squeeze through on her way out. She couldn't even toss me an encouraging glance over her shoulder.

Applejack kicked the door shut with her back hoof.

"Listen, girls, I--"

"What did she do to you?" Applejack asked. Her voice was darker and deeper than I'd ever heard.

My heart stopped for a second. "I-- what? What do you mean?"

"Did she hurt you?" Rarity asked. Her eyes were fixed on mine, deeply sincere.

I looked at each of them, back and forth from one gaze to the other. Were they serious? They thought Vinyl had… done something to me? Something to hurt me?

I shook my head. "N-no! No, Vinyl didn't do anything to hurt me."

Applejack cocked her head. "Pinkie swear?"

"Cross my heart," I said.

Rarity arched her eyebrows expectantly.

I sighed deeply. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," I recited, even adding the proper eye-poking hoof motion at the end.

Applejack let out an enormous sigh of relief. She came to my bedside and sat next to me. Rarity followed suit.

It was weird to think that they were sitting where Vinyl and I had… you know.

I wondered how many times I'd been sitting where other ponies had done the deed.

I quickly stopped wondering.

"Well, for Celestia's sake, what happened?" Applejack asked.

I looked down at my lap. "I told you, I've been having trouble remembering stuff and--"

"Twilight, we aren't going to be angry," Rarity said.

Applejack scoffed. "Speak for yourself. Better be something damn stupid for you to lie to us like that, Twilight."

I kept staring at my hooves.

What were they going to think?

That the papers were right, that I was a homewrecker all along?

That I was some kind of chaser? A swinger?

No. Come on, Twilight. Be rational for once. They're your friends. They love you, and they won't jump to conclusions.

"I…" I swallowed hard. My eyes were still trained downward. "I slept with Vinyl."

The room went quiet. This must be what a black hole feels like, I thought. A terrible feeling all over your body and not a sound to be heard, all of it sucked up and compressed into nothingness.

Rarity actually chuckled softly. "Well, yes, I could have guessed as much. You two are about as subtle as a pride parade."

I blushed fiercely.

"What's got you so upset?" Applejack asked. I could tell she was trying to be competing, or at least accepting, but she tended to sound aggressive even then.

"Upset?" I repeated. For a moment, I could hardly find the words. Then, like a waterfall, they came tumbling out. "Vinyl's only been broken up with Octavia for a week. I mean-- what if I did that? What if I ruined that?"

I wasn't crying, exactly. Just sort of shaking,on the edge of tears.

Rarity and Applejack looked at each other, trying to process this new information. I think Applejack may have shrugged.

"I'm sure that's not true," Rarity said, rubbing my back with one hoof. "I think you should give Vinyl and Octavia a little more credit than that, for goodness's sake."

I moaned softly and put my face in my hooves.

Applejack chuckled lightly. "Sounds like you were Vinyl's rebound. No shame in that."

"Her rebound?!" I lifted my face from my hooves.

Rarity clucked her tongue. "Applejack!" she scolded.

"It's true!" Applejack insisted.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to her. I'm sure you and Vinyl shared something very meaningful."

I made a sound of disgust and put my face back in my hooves, this time to disguise the growing blush.

"Rarity!" Applejack hissed. "You sound like a gotdang after school special!"

"At least I'm saying something nice, you ruffian!" Rarity spat back.

Now it was Applejack's turn to roll her eyes.

I sighed. "Why did I do it?" I mumbled.

"Hm?" Rarity leaned in closer. "Why?"

I flopped backwards onto my bed, my forelegs and wings splayed out to my sides.

I looked over at Rarity. "Yeah. Why would I do that? I knew she'd only been broken up with Octavia for a week."

Applejack and Rarity exchange another look, then laid down on the bed on either side of me. I had to close my wings a bit for them to do so.

Applejack shrugged. "Because you like her?"

I slowly turned my head to give Applejack a withering stare.

She held her hooves up. "Hey. I'm just sayin'. You don't sleep with a mare 'cause you think she's ugly."

"But--" I sighed. "But Octavia--"

"But nothin'," Applejack said. "All that Octavia stuff is Vinyl's problem, not yours."

Rarity made a sound that I could only interpret as 'bad take'. "I think what Applejack means to say is that this is complicated, and you should really be focusing on what you can control."

Applejack scoffed. "I meant exactly what I said!"

"Oh, would you--" Rarity reached over to smack Applejack upside the head, but Applejack batted her hooves away.

I laughed wearily as their slap fight played out over me. At least they weren't mad at me, I guess.

Applejack relented and allowed herself to be smacked once, very gently.

Rarity let out a small gasp. It seems she hadn't intended to hit Applejack at all.

Applejack merely folded her forelegs over her chest and stared up at the ceiling.

"Y'all talked about it, right?" Applejack asked.

I looked up. "Talked about what?"

Applejack shrugged. "About sleeping together. I mean, before, after, it doesn't rightly matter. But you talked, right?"

Don't overthink it, princess.

"Uh… we were maybe planning on talking about it. This morning," I said.

Rarity sighed. "You must have at least thought about it, Twilight."

"Thought about what?"

"Well, are you datin' her, or was this a one-night stand?" Applejack asked.

"Eugh!" Rarity squealed. "Applejack, don't be crass!"

"I'm callin' it what it is!" Applejack insisted.

The two continued to argue, each propped up an elbow and whisper-shouting things at one another.

I looked over at Rarity. She, I'm sure, felt certain that this was a blossoming romance. Perhaps a perfect romance, one that was meant to be, one that would last forever. But that wasn't because of me and Vinyl, it was because that's how she saw the world, especially when it came to love.

I rolled my head to the other side and looked up at Applejack. She was more realistic--perhaps even too realistic--about the elements of dating. A kiss is just a kiss. Sex is just sex. But… well, even she had finally found herself a partner.

My eyes turned to the ceiling.

I remember it. Being a filly, that is. I remember staring up at the ceiling like this, oftentimes trying not to cry, and just quietly wondering why. Why I was so stressed. Why I had to study for that test. Why I needed to be successful at everything so badly.

Why I was so lonely.

And, now, I have the chance to not be lonely.

Don't I deserve that?

Rarity and Applejack ceased their arguing very suddenly. Their flanks were pulsing again, the cutie map telling them that their job was done.

They looked at me.

"We fixed it?" Rarity asked.

"How in the hell did we do that?"

I sat up. "Thanks, girls. I didn't know how much I needed to talk to you about all of this."

"But, Twilight--"

"Darling, what did you decide?" Rarity asked.

I looked at them. Really looked.

Deep in there, in each of them, was this little spark of hope that I would do it. It was buried under a lot of rationalizing and logical explanations, but it was there.

I think sometimes you just want your friend to get the girl, I guess.

"Well," I said, getting to my hooves, "unfortunately, that's for me to know and you to find out."

Rain

It had been scheduled, of course. But my mind had been elsewhere lately, and I guess I had forgotten to check the schedule.

You could tell it was a rookie's first day out when the pressure changed quick enough to make you woozy. Some trigger-happy, not-as-strong-as-they-thought-they-were pegasus was leading the pressure system for the first time, and realizing that maybe weather ponies were jacked for a reason.

A rumble of thunder rolled in from the distance, and a flash of lightning illuminated my foyer for an instant. One, two… and another extraordinary clap of thunder shot up my spine.

The rain fell in a sheet, every first drop hitting the ground at once. It shouldn’t have even been raining, I thought-- they typically didn’t allow rain until after winter wrap-up.

I smiled to myself. Rainbow had complained many times about the inexperienced pegasi doing foolish things. Most wouldn't notice these things, but I thought about Rainbow's storm critiques every time it rained. I didn’t pretend to know all there was to know about weather, of course.

Enough clouds to make the sky grey and gloomy, just as a warning to those who didn't check the schedule. Five minutes more, and drop the pressure slowly. Joints would creak. Old bone fractures would ache. Ten minutes of this, and the rain would start, first a drizzle or a mist, building to something more steady and true. Only after twenty minutes of good, drenching rain was it considered safe to vent built-up static electricity via lightning.

Rainbow didn't say it like that, of course. Her complaints were more swear-laden and screechy.

I placed a hoof on my door.

Wait…

Where could I even go to find Vinyl?

She was staying with friends, but I couldn't remember who they were and certainly wouldn't know where they lived.

My hoof slid off the door and onto the floor.

Shoot.

As I stood there, pondering my next move, I heard a noise through the door. There was something sort of… musical about it. Like somepony singing a nonsense song to themselves. The voice had a deep, but mellow, cadence; an alto, I guess you could say.

Now that I really listened, it wasn’t nonsense at all. It was steady. Melodic.

I put my hoof back on the door and pushed. The wind pulled the door away from me in an instant.

Vinyl was on my porch.

"Vinyl?!" I called to her, only a few feet away, over the howling wind.

She was squinting into the rain. "Hey! Everything okay?"

"What are you doing out here?" I asked. "It's dangerous!"

"It's only been dangerous for about a minute, Twi!"

Another clap of thunder rang through town.

I closed my eyes, concentrated hard, and managed to conjure a half-baked magical shield which hung in the air over the both of us.

Vinyl was absolutely soaked. Her mane hung down straight, as if it were made of fine strands of lead. Raindrops fell from her stomach and pooled on the porch.

I laughed lightly. "You waited for me?"

"Why wouldn't I wait for you?"

I laughed a little more, kind of disbelieving. "Nopony's ever waited for me in the rain before."

"Well, like I said, it was only about a--"

"Oh, hush," I commanded.

Vinyl smiled. "Okay."

We stood there a minute, looking at each other. I took a step closer to Vinyl, tucking my chin down to look at her. Vinyl blushed, but took a step closer to me, tilting her head up to see me better.

We both sort of giggled.

“Alright, I may have lied a little,” Vinyl said. “I didn’t exactly wait for you.”

I arched one eyebrow. “Oh?”

Her eyes sort of sparkled. I don’t know how else to explain it… it was like a little bit of light danced through them, otherwise unseen. She smiled, almost disbelieving.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “I’m sorry, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

I giggled, and a little snort snuck out.

This only served to widen Vinyl’s grin. “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a date?”

I put a hoof over my mouth to disguise my further giggling.

Vinyl sort of looked from side to side. “Actually-- y’know, no matter what, you’ll have to come with me. I may have assumed you’d say yes and just gone ahead and I had to pay in advance… just come with me, will ya?” She shook her head, as if embarrassed by her babbling.

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay?” She repeated, beaming up at me.

I nodded.

“Alright!” Vinyl pumped her hoof in the air. She then reached over and hooked her foreleg around mine. “Come on!”

We took off running across the muddy roads. Well, Vinyl running, me cantering. The shield I’d been holding flickered and faded, and the rain soaked me in moments. But I didn’t care; it felt as refreshing as a summer storm, despite the chill in the air. It should have been icy, should have shot deep into my joints and made me feel ready to crumple into a pile of flesh and bones.

But it was exciting. Electric.

We were both laughing. Laughing in that teenager way, where you don’t know what you’re laughing at, but you can’t stop.

Vinyl looked back at me, then made a sudden turn to the right. I skidded to a near-stop, following her agile turn with one considerably less so, splashing mud in a great arc. The brown splatters nearly reached my knees, but I didn’t care.

“Here!” Vinyl shouted. Her sprint had slowed to a trot.

I followed her lead, coming to a stop in front of a small diner.

Vinyl shook herself dry like a dog, though it had very little effect in the still-driving rain. She looked at me sheepishly, wondering what to do.

I came to her side and, using all of my concentration, was able to magically disperse all of the mud and most of the rainwater.

We scuttled into the diner quickly, trying not to accumulate much more rainwater in our manes and fur.

The diner had one of those little vestibules in the front, the kind with one leather booth and two gumball machines. We stopped here for a breather.

“Damn, you’re a good pony to have around,” Vinyl commented, nudging me in the ribs.

I smiled. I didn’t even know what to say, I was just smiling and blushing and happy.

We wiped our hooves in the well-worn rug and opened the door into the real diner.

It was mostly empty. There was one other group of ponies off to the left, clearly finished with their meals and waiting patiently for the rain to stop.

On the right, however…

“Ta-da!” Vinyl made a grand, sweeping gesture in the direction of a table already filled with breakfast delicacies, yet surrounded by empty booths.

It was strangely quiet in the diner, despite the constant droning of the rain on the roof and the awning. The ponies on the other side of the room were doing nothing more than sipping coffee and speaking in hushed voices, staring out the window at weather-torn Ponyville. The usually aggressive sounds of the kitchen were quieted, too.

My smile broke open into something wide and toothy. I couldn’t help myself from laughing a little. “Vinyl, what--”

“I was gonna make you breakfast this morning, but I got… interrupted,” she explained. “So here’s the breakfast I would’ve made you. If I had time. And could cook.”

I stepped forward, looking over the feast before me. The food was split amongst many different plates, each individual offering on its own small platter.

“Also, I don’t really know what you like to have for breakfast,” Vinyl said, coming to my side. “So I ordered some of everything. Can’t believe they cooked it so fast.”

I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath through my nose. My stomach growled in response.

“Vinyl, you didn’t have to do this,” I said.

She scoffed. “Of course I didn’t have to. But… I wanted to.”

“To make me feel like a princess?” I asked.

Vinyl shook her head. “To make you feel normal, Twilight. This is what… y’know couples and stuff do. Buy each other food.”

“Couples?” I repeated.

“And stuff,” Vinyl corrected. “You’re forgetting ‘and stuff’. Couples and stuff.”

I smirked at her.

“Do you like it?” Vinyl asked softly.

“I love it!” I said, hooking my foreleg around her shoulders and planting a kiss on her temple.

Vinyl tucked her ears down and blushed fiercely. “Yeah, well...” She couldn’t finish her thought, but she was smiling.

I could hardly keep myself from smiling back. It felt stupid to smile so much; especially with the knot at the pit of my stomach, and the little voice in the back of my head reciting ‘what if’ questions like a tape recorder. But, if I was honest, seeing the way Vinyl looked at me was unraveling the knot, and her voice made the one in my head seem shrill and demanding by comparison.

“Thank you,” I said. “But we need to talk.”

Vinyl’s smile melted. “Talk? Like… talk talk?”

I sighed. “Vinyl… I’ve been stressed and fretting for weeks, now, about all of this.”

“You have?”

“It’s all I can think about.” I glanced over at the food on the table before us. “You know, there’s no reason we can’t talk over food.”

Vinyl looked at me, then back at the food. Her stomach, too, seemed to have a mind of its own, and growled loudly. She looked back up at me with a sheepish grin.

We slid into opposite sides of the booth.

“So…” Vinyl tapped her hooves on the table. “When you say you’ve been stressed about this… what exactly do you mean by that?”

“Well, you have to admit this hasn’t been a… traditional courtship,” I said carefully. Vinyl wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I’ve just spent so much time being confused, mostly. And I hate being confused.”

“Confused about what?” Vinyl asked.

“About everything,” I said. “About you, about me, about all the stuff we did together… what do you see me as, Vinyl?”

Vinyl bit down on her lip. “Well, what do you see me as?”

I giggled. “I asked you first.”

She flashed a little smile which quickly faded. “I… I don’t really know,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry if that’s a bad answer.”

I laughed lightly, incredulously. “How can you not know?”

Vinyl shrugged. “I just… I know I wanna be close to you. You’re one of the best ponies I’ve ever met, Twilight. You’re so smart, and I could listen to you talk for hours, and-- well. You’re pretty.”

I fought a smile.

“I haven’t really thought about, like, labels or anything. I just know I want you in my life,” Vinyl said. “Is that… I dunno. Is that okay?”

I looked down at my hooves. “Vinyl…”

Vinyl braced herself, as if for a slap.

“Look,” I said. I leaned forward a bit. “I have to be honest. I watched all that stuff go down between you and Octavia, and I just have to wonder… is the same thing going to happen with you and me?”

Vinyl blinked. “I don’t know.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Oh.”

“I mean, I didn’t know it was gonna happen with Octavia,” she said. “I don’t think it’s something you can know. You either grow together or you grow apart, right?”

“That’s… not really what I meant.”

“What did you mean, then?” Vinyl asked.

“I meant..” I wiggled in my seat a little. The vinyl booth was sticking to my damp flanks. “Well, to be frank, you were… you were doing things with me before you’d broken up with Octavia. How do I know that won’t happen again?”

Vinyl kind of froze.

The silence between us yawned open like a giant void. The unspoken thing. That, for a brief time, I had been ‘the other mare’.

Vinyl swallowed hard, then looked up at me. “It won’t.”

“But how do I--”

“Because this is different,” Vinyl said. She grit her teeth. “I… I can’t really explain it. I just know that it won’t be like that. It can’t be like that.”

We were quiet again. The clatter of dishes being picked up rang through the diner. The rain continued to rattle the roof, like the driving backbeat to the melodious tones of the dishes.

“I just don’t know if I can do this unless I’m sure,” I said.

“Who’s ever sure?” Vinyl asked.

I cocked my head. “Huh?”

“Who’s ever sure, Twilight?” she repeated. “Really. Ponies don’t do this stuff ‘cause they’re sure. They do it because-- well, I dunno why they do it, honestly.”

“Why do you want to do it?” I asked.

Vinyl looked at me for a long time, her eyes desperately searching for an anchor on my face, yet seeming to endlessly wander over it. She looked down at her lap quite suddenly, examining her hooves in great detail. Her ears seemed alert, high and swiveling slightly.

She cleared her throat. “Because, when I look at you, the music sounds clearer.”

My heart skipped a beat.

She looked up at me. “You know. Like I told you.”

“I know,” I said breathlessly.

“And… Octavia may have liked music, but it was never like that with her,” she continued. “She never made it sound like it does when I’m with you. And she definitely never wrote me a song.” She smiled a little. “I mean, if friendship is magic… isn’t love magic, too?”

I smiled back at her. “It’s not a bad thesis. I wouldn’t mind testing it out.”

Smooth

I'll spare you the details of our first few dates for now.

Not because they weren't wonderful. Just because they were natural, easy, and so much like my everyday activities that they hardly stand out to me. I wasn't nervously getting ready for them. I wasn't worried I would do or say something stupid.

Vinyl spent plenty of time with all of my friends, as well. We had a few normal game nights, a few loosely-structured hangouts, and even one book discussion after the new Daring Do came out.

Maybe one day I'll get around to telling you about those times. I sure wouldn't mind revisiting them.

In short, things were smooth.

The transition from friends to dates was… smooth.

The integration of Vinyl into my life was surprisingly smooth.

The way she talked to my friends was smooth (with a little coaxing from me).

The whole thing was like gently sliding down into a bubble bath, the warmth of the water embracing me gently, the popping of the bubbles just the occasional tickling surprises of any new relationship. It was comforting. I wanted to be up to my chin in it, breathing in the lovely scent of the soaps, thinking of nothing but how happy I was to be here.

Unfortunately, the bubbles could often obscure the mysterious things lurking under the surface. Smooth times don't make for a very good story, do they?

Vinyl and I had a habit of spending nights together, side by side in my study room, usually leaning back against one another. I would read, occasionally tapping Vinyl on the shoulder to read her an especially good passage. Vinyl would strap on a set of enormous headphones and listen to one of the library's records, occasionally playing a few bars for me.

Tonight was one such night. I was reading a history of magical transportation devices, and Vinyl was listening to some mysteriously unlabeled chamber choir music.

"This shit's weird, Twi," she commented, taking her headphones off and lifting the needle from the record. "It doesn't rhyme, it doesn't have a melody… totally changes how you think about music."

"Uh-huh…" I murmured.

Vinyl looked over her shoulder at me with a knowing smile. She hooked her foreleg around mine and held it there, waiting patiently.

One thing I really loved-- I mean, really liked about Vinyl: she never made those jokes about how I was too focused to hear her. No 'Vinyl to Twilight, come in Twilight, over'. No knocking on my forehead with one hoof like I'd closed a door on her. She just waited quietly for me to snap back to reality.

At last, her words managed to burrow through the cloud which had gathered about my mind. "Huh? Did you say something?"

Vinyl chuckled to herself. "I said I like the chamber choir stuff. It's cool."

"Really? I always thought that stuff was kinda…"

"Weird?"

"Very weird."

Vinyl smiled. She tightened her grip a little on my leg, tugging it closer to her. "I like weird."

I clucked my tongue. "Cheeseball."

Vinyl twisted around to nuzzle at my neck. "Ooh, and last I checked, you liked cheese."

I giggled and pushed her face away. "Quit it! That tickles!"

Vinyl chuckled mischievously, but relented. "Hey, you know who else likes weird cheese?" She realized her mistake almost immediately. "Er, you know who likes-- uh, cheesy-ness, and, uh--"

"Us?" I suggested.

Vinyl nodded. "Thank you. You know who would like us?"

"Who?" I asked, turning the page of my book.

"My friends!" Vinyl said. "Lyra, BonBon, and Ditzy. They haven't met you yet."

"Oh!" I closed my book and set it down in my lap. "I guess I haven't."

"Yeah, so I was wondering--"

"Ooh! Ooh! We should all get together and have a sleepover!"

Vinyl cocked her head. "I feel like that would be a weird thing to do with a couple."

"Oh, pft," I waved my hoof. "I do it with my friends all the time, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack are dating."

Vinyl sort of squires at me. "I feel like that's a fundamentally different situation."

I laughed a little. "In what way?"

Vinyl sighed. "Well, for starters, you were all friends before they started dating."

I shrugged. "I guess that's true, but--"

"Also, we're just a few ponies who like to hang out," Vinyl said. "Not six very special ponies bonded by the magic of friendship and harmony. I feel like that stuff tends to raise the bar for what's considered awkward with you guys."

I chuckled sheepishly. "Okay, maybe you're right."

Vinyl chuckled and gave me a nudge with her elbow. I'd come to realize that this was what she did when she thought I was doing something especially cute. Or, at least, that was my theory.

"What about an escape room?" I suggested. "My friends and I did one once! It was so--"

Vinyl put her hoof over my mouth. "I'm just gonna stop you there. My friends aren't really into… structure?"

I must have given her a weird look.

"Like… structured activities. Just like planned things."

"That's…" I narrowed my eyes and looked up at the ceiling, as if it would help me understand. "Er, interesting."

"I'm not explaining it super good," Vinyl said. "Sorry. Bad with words. They'd probably be down for something, like, casual. Loosey-goosey, y'know?"

"Such as?" I asked.

"Mm… such as a night out?" Vinyl suggested. "Maybe at eight o'clock tonight? At the club in Ponyville?"

"Tsk, you planned this without me!" I whirled in my seat to face Vinyl.

With her support removed, Vinyl fell backwards, laying in the nest of bean bags and staring up at me. "I just knew you'd say yes!"

"How could you possibly know that?" I demanded with a stomp of my hoof. It made a delicate crunching sound in the bean bag.

"'Cause you're the princess of friendship," Vinyl explained. "And I said 'friend', like, a hundred times."

"No fair!"

"Hacked!" Vinyl exclaimed. She rolled into her side and hoisted herself up onto her hooves. "I don't wanna say you're easy, Two, but--"

"It's my royal duty!" I shot back, lunging at her.

She let herself be tackled back down into the bean bags, laughing all the while. "You said doody! The princess said doody!"

I tried to maintain a serious look, but it was hard to do through the laughter. "Are you five?!"

Vinyl grinned, looking up at me as I straddled her in the bean bags. "I'm young at heart!"

I sighed, flipped my mane dramatically, and sat down beside Vinyl. "Fine. I'll go."

"Really?" Vinyl propped herself up on one foreleg.

"On one condition!"

"Name it."

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I closed it, thought a moment, opened it again-- nothing.

Vinyl threw her head back and let out one sharp, short laugh. "You don't have one!"

"I do, too!" I insisted. "Just… let me think of it."

"Oh, you dope," Vinyl said. She prodded me in the ribs a little.

She thought I was cute.

Remember how I said I didn't fret over dates with Vinyl?

Well. This was one worth fretting over.

It's not that I hadn't met any of Vinyl's friends. I'm fact, I had encountered all of them at one time or another. It was a small town, after all.

But we hadn't been introduced. They didn't know me personally, and certainly not as Vinyl's marefriend.

In fact, the longer I spent toiling away in front of a mirror, the more I wondered just how much Vinyl had told them about me. Did they know how long we'd been dating? When it had started? How much… overlap there had been with Octavia?

"Twilight, you're the only one making a big deal out of this," Spike said. He was laying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, probably praying silently to be freed from the prison of talking me through my panic. "It's been almost two months. Isn't that enough time?"

I sighed. A short, harsh, stressful sigh. "It doesn't matter how long it's been now."

Spike sighed, too. His was long and low. He didn't say anything else.

"Should I wear my glowstick?" I asked. "I kept it in the freezer."

"No offense, Twilight, but you look sadder with the glowstick on," Spike said. "You need more than one glowstick."

I turned to look at Spike. "I don't have more than one. I only have the one in my freezer."

"Well, who gave you the one in your freezer?"

"Rainbow Dash."

"Do you think she could give you some more?"

I snorted. "Yeah, right, Spike. I haven't used up the one I have yet!"

Spike sat up. I thought I caught a glimpse of an eye roll as he did. "Just stop worrying so much. They're not gonna care what you look like."

"Stop worrying so much?" I laughed sarcastically. "That's great, Spike. I'll put it on my tombstone. That way, when ponies come to visit me, they won't be worried about my being dead anymore!"

Spike held his claws up in a defensive position, though it was pretty half-hearted. "I think maybe you should be less focused on how you look and more on how you act tonight."

"First impressions matter, Spike!" I said authoritatively. "How I dress for this event tells Vinyl's friends how I prepare for our dates, which says a lot about our relationship."

"But… you never dress up for your dates with Vinyl," Spike said.

"Exactly!" I agreed.

Spike sighed again. He laid back down on the bed. "Great point, Twi," he muttered.

I was about to scold him for being sarcastic, but Vinyl's usual rhythmic knock at my door interrupted my thoughts.

"Oh! That's her!" I said, as if it weren't obvious.

"How do you know it's her?" Spike asked.

"She did her special knock!" I said.

Spiked sighed wearily. For as caught up in his infatuation with Rarity as he was, that little dragon didn't seem to have any appreciation for the romantic lives of others. But, then, I guess that's a lot to expect of a boy his age.

I rubbed the spikes on his head affectionately, as I always do, and headed for the door.

Vinyl's rhythmic knocking continued to echo through the castle, never outright aggressive but definitely urgent. Or perhaps merely impatient.

I cantered to the door and cracked it open, interrupting Vinyl's symphony. "Hi!"

Vinyl sort of stumbled, but caught my eye and smiled. "Hey! Ready to go?"

"Yup!" I stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind me.

There was still something sort of mechanical about the way I kissed Vinyl on the cheek, as if we were both braving for the rush of butterflies it would bring. Two months may sound like a while, but not long enough to become totally cool with PDA, I guess.

Vinyl blushed and started down the castle steps. "Did you bring your, uh.. I mean, my, uh--"

"Ear plugs?" I suggested, holding out the set. "Of course!"

Vinyl nodded. "I would've brought a spare set, but I figured you'd remember."

I beamed at her.

We were fairly quiet as we walked through Ponyville. There was something about the way that Vinyl walked which made me nervous. I know that probably sounds paranoid, but I liked to think that I could read ponies pretty well.

Vinyl would typically keep a speedier pace so as not to fall behind my long strides, but she seemed to be walking slowly today. She was typically very talkative on her way to a musical event, always trying to fill me in on what I might hear, but tonight she wasn't saying a thing.

"Vinyl?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"Are you alright?"

"Me?" Vinyl put a hoof on her chest, surprised that I'd noticed. "Oh, y'know. Just… nervous, I guess."

"Nervous?"

Vinyl swallowed. "Well… yeah. I want them to like you. My friends, I mean. And not that you're not totally likeable!"

I giggled a little.

"Just… well, they knew Octavia."

"Oh." Suddenly I felt like a dolt for not seeing it sooner. "Right."

"We all used to be friends, y'know? We all went to school together, and…" Vinyl kicked at a pebble in the street. "They're nice ponies. But I dunno how well they'll show it, exactly."

"Oh, Vinyl, I'm sure they'll be receptive."

Vinyl kept staring down at the ground.

"Vinyl?"

"They all read that article," Vinyl blurted. She looked up at me. " A while ago… they read it. And now you're gonna be here and-- but I'm sure they'll like you. They have to. You're so likeable!"

I stopped walking.

Vinyl stopped, too.

"Did you tell them the article wasn't true?" I asked.

My heart was thudding against my ribs.

"Well, I… not at the time," Vinyl said slowly. "Well I kinda did. It's hard to remember, exactly."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I asked, a high pleading tone sneaking into my voice.

"I didn't want you to worry!" Vinyl exclaimed.

"I think this may have been worth worrying about!"

A silence fell between us.

"I'm sorry, Twilight," Vinyl said softly. "I thought I was making the right choice."

I sighed. "It's fine. I'm sure it'll all be fine."

"Look, I'm on your side, okay?" Vinyl said.

"I don't want there to be sides!" I argued. "There should just be one side! The friendship side!"

"Okay, then I'm on that side!"

"We can't go into this thinking about sides, Vinyl!" I said. "If we're thinking in terms of sides, then there will be sides, and there can't be sides!"

"Okay!" Vinyl held up one hoof. "Got it. Sorry."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good."

"I just meant I'm with you, y'know?" Vinyl said, hooking her leg around mine. "I'm not gonna let them be jerks or anything. I don't think they'd be jerks, but if they are I won't let them."

I set my jaw, bit relented and nodded. "Okay."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier," she said.

"I know,” I said. “It’s alright.”

We stood still a moment longer. The early-spring air was cool.

The club loomed before us, looking more like a prison than ever. The heavy bassline pumped from inside, steady and slow as a heartbeat.

“I’m probably worried about nothing,” Vinyl said. “Right?”

“I sure hope so.”

Another silence. If we stood still enough, we could hear the voices of other ponies shouting and laughing inside.

“Should we go?” Vinyl asked.

Breathe, Twilight. In, hold, out. “Let’s do this.”

We marched up to the door of the club, entering with our heads held high, trying to look happy. Happy and not at all stressed. Happy, not hardly able to breathe.

Not being squeezed around the chest by an invisible force, eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets, beads of sweat rolling down my temples, shaking on uncertain hooves.

Not that.

Happy!

The music was absolutely oppressive tonight. I’m sure it was meant to sound energetic and upbeat, but the way they forced it through the speakers and down onto the crowd made it feel like I was being dogpiled by several very drunk stallions. The whole room seemed to be rattling, about to burst from the effort of making sounds so low and so loud.

I closed my eyes.

It’s music, I thought.

Hear the music. It’s in there somewhere.

“Hey, there they are!” Vinyl tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at a small group of ponies by the bar.

I put a smile on my face and followed Vinyl to the bar.

“Everypony, this is Twilight!” Vinyl announced.

One of her friends, a unicorn, scoffed. “Yeah, dipshit. We know what the princess looks like,” she said with a playful smirk.

The earth pony next to her jabbed her in the ribs. “Lyra! Be polite!”

The third pony, a pegasus, seemed to be starstruck.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “Twilight, this is Lyra Heartstrings, BonBon Sweetiedrops, and Ditzy Doo,” she said, gesturing to each of her friends in turn.

I smiled as warmly as I could. No stress. Just happy. “Hi, everypony!”

A chorus of hellos arose from the group, if a little unenthusiastic.

“Can we buy you a drink, Twilight?” BonBon asked sweetly.

“Oh! Uh…” My eyes flicked down to look at Vinyl, looking for guidance. She clearly had none. “Not tonight! I’m not a big drinker, really.”

“Really?” Lyra said. “Damn. If I were a princess, I’d be drinking ‘round the clock. Sounds stressful as all hell.”

“Uh… It is. But I’ve found other ways to manage my stress,” I said. “Breathing exercises. Meditation. That kinda thing.”

“Oh, I see,” Lyra nodded. Her eyes were glued to mine, nothing but narrow glints of golden light. “So you’re one of those hippie, free-love ponies?”

“Dude, all she said was ‘breathing exercises’,” Vinyl said. She took a step forward to come between me and her friends. “Lay off, would ya?”

“Vinyl, it’s okay,” I said, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

She looked up at me, just to be sure. I gave her a look which hopefully said ‘I got this’. She set her jaw and huffed lightly, but stepped back to my side.

“Can we get you a non-alcoholic drink?” BonBon offered, laughing a little.

I looked down at Vinyl. She shrugged.

“Sure!” I said. “Club soda with lime?”

BonBon nodded, then turned to flag down the bartender. She seemed genuinely happy to see me; a real smile, warmth in her eyes. It made me feel a little better about the night out.

“Ditz, you alright?” Vinyl said, nudging her pegasus friend.

Ditzy shook her head clear. “Sorry! Just… what’s it like being a princess?”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Ditzy, you sound like a filly.”

“No, it’s okay!” I said to Lyra. I turned my gaze back to Ditzy. “It’s pretty cool, but I’m glad that I got to come out with you guys tonight. Sometimes it’s just nice to be normal.”

Ditzy smiled brightly. “Cool,” she said, with a little nervous giggle.

BonBon turned back to face us. “Why don’t you girls find a seat for us? We’ll catch up once we get our drinks.”

Vinyl looked up at me, communicating a shrug only through her eyebrows. “Sounds good!”

“Yup!” I agreed.

We scurried off.

“It’s going really well, I think!” I said in a harsh whisper. “Do you?”

“It’s-- It’s going okay,” Vinyl agreed half-heartedly.

“Uh-oh.”

Vinyl looked at me, wearing a strange mix of sheepish smile and pained grimace. “I dunno. Lyra is being pretty hostile.”

I scoffed. “I kinda got the feeling that that’s just how she is.”

Vinyl shrugged. “It is and it isn’t. I dunno.” She flopped down onto a nearby couch. “You didn’t feel like she was trying to find something wrong with you?”

I sat down next to Vinyl, considerably less relaxed than she was. “No! Is that what you thought she was doing?”

“Well, I dunno, it just seemed like--”

“Oh, Celestia, that’s exactly what she was doing,” I said, putting a hoof over my mouth. “The not drinking, and then meditation--”

“It’s insane. She can’t hate you for that stuff.”

“But what if she does?”

“She can’t,” Vinyl said. “You can’t hate somepony over stuff like that.”

“But--”

“Hey, girls!” BonBon called, trotting our way.

Vinyl and I stopped our discussion and sat bolt upright, watching the parade of ponies approach our safety corner. Lyra was toting a tray filled with drinks in her magic, and Ditzy was all but galloping towards us.

The pegasus leapt into the air and landed beside me, looking up at me with stars in her eyes.

I looked down at her and gave the most genuine smile I could muster, which I fear was rather poor.

BonBon and Lyra passed out drinks to everypony, including one for Vinyl which she certainly had not ordered.

“Club soda with lime for Twilight?” BonBon asked, holding out a low glass for me to take.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the glass from her with my magic.

Lyra flopped down next to Vinyl. “Sorry Octavia couldn’t come. She went back to Great Bittain for a while.”

VInyl choked on her drink. “Oh! Th-that’s cool. No worries.”

“Oh,” Lyra put a hoof over her mouth, looking at me snidely. “Sorry, guess that would’ve been pretty awkward, huh? I just figured you guys were gonna stay friends.”

Vinyl sipped at her drink, staring straight ahead. “Uh… well, we--”

“Of course they are!” I said, putting a hoof on Vinyl’s back. “I’m the princess of friendship, after all! They’re definitely, definitely staying friends! I’ll see to that!” I laughed, trying to sound giddy, but I think it just came out sounding maniacal.

Lyra looked at me as if I’d told her there was a third royal sister. “Uh… cool.” She sipped her own drink, looking off into space.

That shut her up.

“Twilight, have you been to one of Vinyl’s shows yet?” BonBon asked, clearly wanting to disperse the awkwardness.

“Ah, no!” Vinyl put her hooves over her ears. “Come on, Bonnie, that’s so embarrassing!”

“Tsk, it is not!” BonBon nudged Vinyl.

I laughed. “Vinyl hasn’t invited me to one of her shows yet, actually.”

“Oh, they’re so awesome!” Ditzy said. “Nothing like this. Vinyl’s music is way better.”

Vinyl was blushing. “Come on, guys…”

“Vinyl’s music?” I repeated. I looked at Vinyl. “You play your own music when you DJ?”

Vinyl shrugged. “Maybe sometimes.”

“She didn’t tell you?” BonBon laughed. “Vinyl, I can’t believe you!”

“I can’t believe you!” Vinyl retorted. She was laughing, too.

“Vinyl, how have you never played me your music before?” I asked. “I didn’t even know you wrote music.”

For a moment, it was like everything in the club was sucked away, leaving just me and Vinyl alone together. How was it we could do that with such ease? Make everything else disappear, creating that moment just for the two of us?

“Oh, you wouldn’t like it…”

“Hey,” I said. “Of course I will. You made it.”

“Aw!” Ditzy leaned against me, breaking us out of our bubble. “You guys are just the cutest!”

Vinyl shielded her face with one hoof. “Ditz, we’ve only been here five minutes.”

“Yeah, but I know cute when I see it,” Ditzy said with a shrug. “You guys are cute, cute, cute!”

BonBon seemed to be smiling in agreement.

Vinyl and I shared a look. The meaning was hard to describe; equal parts embarrassment, pride, and affection.

“So, how busy does princess-ing keep you?” Lyra asked, leaning out from behind Vinyl’s head. “Must be pretty busy, right? Not a lot of time for other stuff?”

I sighed inwardly. “Um. Kinda busy, I guess.”

“Oh, right. You’re a chill princess. I can see that,” Lyra said, leaning back into the couch. “Not like Celestia, bustin’ her ass all day.”

My eyebrows knit together. Is that what she thought of me? That I was lazy?

No, Twilight. Don’t jump to conclusions.

Vinyl turned to look at Lyra. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lyra shrugged. “What, dude? It’s a compliment. We couldn’t go out for drinks with Celestia, y’know? She’d be way too busy, like, tending to her kingdom and stuff.”

“What makes you think Twilight didn’t clear her schedule for this?” Vinyl pressed. “She’s got loads of stuff to do. She’s making time for you. Don’t be a dick.”

“I’m not being a dick!” Lyra argued.

“You so are!” Vinyl shot back.

I looked back at BonBon and Ditzy. They seemed disappointed, but not entirely surprised.

I grabbed Vinyl’s shoulder and pulled her back.

“Hey!” she complained.

“I got this,” I murmured to her.

Lyra turned her gaze to me, looking not so much angry as just… bored and tired of me.

“Lyra,” I said. “If you’re angry with me, I’d rather you just talk to me about it.”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Oh, of course you would.”

“Dude!” Vinyl scolded.

“I can’t make you less angry unless you talk to me, Lyra,” I said. “You don’t work out problems with passive-aggression.”

“Maybe you don’t,” Lyra said, smirking.

“Lyra!” Vinyl shouted. “Can you just be cool? That’s my marefriend you’re talking to.”

“Oh, so she got an upgrade from ‘mistress’?” Lyra sneered.

I think I choked out a word, but it may have been a mere syllable. I was completely frozen, my drink rattling in the weakening grip of my magic. It was exactly like my nightmares, the ones where I wake up covered in sweat and convinced everypony hates me.

“What did you just say?” Vinyl asked darkly.

“Do you have any idea what you did to Octavia?” Lyra asked. She was surprisingly cool, cool as a cucumber. “Any idea what it felt like to hear that you’d started sleeping with Twilight Sparkle, of all ponies?”

“Octavia dumped me!” Vinyl argued.

“Yeah, right…” Lyra muttered. “She was my best friend, Vinyl! Longer than any of you. And you just want to invite me out to meet your new marefriend? Are you serious?”

“Lyra, come on…” BonBon murmured.

“No, you come on!” Lyra argued. “You guys don’t think this is weird?”

“Of course it’s weird!” Vinyl shouted back. “I know that! No one’s saying it’s not weird!”

We were all silent for a moment.

“I just…” Vinyl sighed, her voice fragile. “I thought you guys would pull together and be happy for me.”

“BonBon and Ditzy are happy for you. Isn’t that enough?” Lyra asked, staring down into her drink. She sat forward suddenly, leaning around Vinyl and myself to look at her other friends. “Why exactly are you guys so cool with this, anyway?”

Ditzy looked up at me. “I like Twilight. She’s done loads of nice stuff around town, why shouldn’t we like her?”

Lyra scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Lyra…” BonBon’s voice was low. “Maybe you and I should go talk, huh?”

“No,” I said, getting to my hooves.

Everypony’s eyes were on me in an instant.

“Twilight…” Vinyl reached for me. “I--”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I think you all deserve some time to talk about this. I’d hate to come between friends.” I gave Vinyl a little smile.

Vinyl smiled back.

I turned to go, trotting towards the door. I tried to let the music take me away, envelope me in its oppressiveness and just make me forget about the ache in my chest, and the bubbling in my gut. But somehow the noise only made it all feel worse.

With my hoof on the door, I suddenly felt a tug on my shoulder. “Twi, wait.”

I turned to look at Vinyl.

“I don’t want you to--”

“Vinyl, it’s really okay!” I said. “I promise.”

“I just--” Vinyl made another broken sound, something between a sigh and a sob. “Is it so much to ask that you and my friends get along? Y’know?”

“This is hard for them,” I said. “You have to give them some time to warm up to me, okay? Friendship can’t be forced.”

“Seems like BonBon and Ditzy were plenty warm,” Vinyl muttered.

“Well, then talk to Lyra,” I said.

Vinyl stomped her hoof lightly. “I don’t wanna have to choose between my friends and my marefriend.”

“It’s a balancing act,” I said. “We’ll figure it out. But it won’t happen in one night.”

“It did with your friends, though!” Vinyl complained. “Ugh, why can’t this just be easy?”

“It will be,” I said, cupping Vinyl’s face in my hoof. “But we have to work at it. Okay?”

VInyl sighed, pressing her face into my hoof and closing her eyes. For a moment, she looked blissfully happy. “Okay.”

“I’ll see you soon?”

“Are you okay, though?” Vinyl asked. “I mean, Lyra’s been saying some pretty nasty--”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I am. Just go talk with your friends.”

Vinyl nodded. “Alright. I’m sorry, Twi.”

“Make it up to me by repairing that friendship, okay?” I gave Vinyl a quick peck on the forehead.

Her tail flicked happily. “Alright. See you soon.”

We parted ways.

It was sort of funny, the way we always ended up separating and coming together again at this club. I didn’t even like it here, for goodness’ sake.

In fact, I hated it.

I hated it a lot. So much that it made my throat burn. It made me want to cry or scream or hit something. How could I hate it so much?

Just had to get home.

Just had to get away from the club. That’s what made me feel bad, right? The loud music? The smells?

Go on, Twilight. Gallop on home.

My hooves beat against the dirt roads of Ponyville, the sensation the only thing keeping me from bursting into tears. Just look straight ahead, Twilight. Just make it home. Just get under your covers and cry there, where it’s quiet and it doesn’t smell.

“Oh! Twilight!”

No!

I skidded to a halt as quickly as I could. “Fluttershy?”

She was standing by the side of the road, wearing a pair of full saddlebags and looking up at a bird in a nearby tree. Late-night vegetable run, I guessed. WIth an avian distraction.

“How are you?” Fluttershy asked. She looked sleepy-happy in that way she usually does. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while.”

I couldn’t even answer. The tears were pushing against the inside of my throat.

“Oh… Twilight, what happened?” Fluttershy rushed to my side. “What’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but could only start crying. Not big tears.

“Oh, let’s get you home,” Flutterhy said, wrapping one leg around my shoulders and beginning to guide me towards the castle. “I’ll make you some tea, alright? Your castle’s just around the corner.”

I sniffled lightly. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Fluttershy said. Her voice was deep with concern.

We walked quietly and slowly back to the castle, Fluttershy gently wiping away tears with her wing. Just having her by my side made me feel a little better, as friends often do.

How could she say those things about me?

How could Vinyl be friends with a pony like that?

Fluttershy pushed open the door to the castle and led me inside. She walked me into the kitchen and sat me down at one of the stools around my kitchen island. Just one seat away from where I’d been when Vinyl and I had gotten together in the first place.

“There we go.” Fluttershy gave me a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Now, what happened?”

I sniffled. “Oh… it’s stupid.”

“I’m sure it’s not,” Fluttershy said. She was already puttering about the kitchen, looking for comforting things to serve with my tea.

I sighed. “What if… what if Vinyl and I can’t ever be together? What if it’s just not meant to be?”

Fluttershy placed the tea kettle on the stovetop. “What makes you think that?”

I began to trace little patterns along the marble top of the island. “Her friends hate me. Because of everything that happened with Octavia. And, no matter what I do, I can’t undo that!”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said. “I see.”

“It’s not my fault that Vinyl and Octavia weren’t right for each other,” I said. “Is it?”

“Of course it isn’t!” Fluttershy sat down beside me.

“I keep replaying it all in my head, trying to figure out a better way to do things. But I just can’t think of one,” I said. “And I can’t think of a way to fix it. I don’t even know if it counts as a friendship problem.”

Fluttershy sighed. “Why haven’t Vinyl’s friends talked to Octavia about it?”

“She’s in Great Bittain,” I said. “She’s staying with her parents for a while.”

“I see,” Fluttershy said. “Do you want my advice, or do you just want to talk?”

I perked up. “Do you have advice?”

Fluttershy smiled. “Sometimes it’s hard to be nice to your friend when they’ve done something you don’t agree with. I remember when I let Applejack petsit for me, and one of my poor kitties got sick off of something Applejack fed her under the table… I was so angry!” I wanted to believe her, but her voice was so gentle that I nearly laughed. “But Applejack wasn’t trying to upset me. She helped me nurse little Darla back to health, and even paid for her vet bills.”

“Uh-huh.”

“If Vinyl’s friends are angry with her for a bad decision, it’s because they’re not communicating about it,” Fluttershy explained.

I sighed. “I dunno, Fluttershy. The thing with Applejack was an accident, but this was on purpose. I guess.”

“If they’re really her friends, then they’ll figure out how to get past it,” Fluttershy said. “And I think they need to do that away from you. At least for now.”

“But I’m the princess of friendship! I’m supposed to help!” I exclaimed.

Fluttershy shrugged. “The map didn’t call you to help. It didn’t call any of us.”

I sat up and looked into the main room, as if I would see something there which might prove Fluttershy wrong. The room was still, the cutie map hidden from view as usual.

“I… guess that’s true,” I said.

“This isn’t your problem to fix, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “They can’t all be. Some things are just between friends.”

“But…” I sighed. “But that sucks!”

Fluttershy chuckled. “That’s why we have chocolate!”

Author's Note

Woof, that was a tough one.
You can't fix everything, Twilight... it'll take at least one more try for her to learn that one, though. But that is a chapter for another day! Enjoy this evening update :twilightsmile:

Token

The word "token" has many meanings.

Here are two important ones:

First, the word "token" can refer to any item of significance representing a larger theme or idea. Take, for instance, a photo carried in a wallet. This is a token representing the pony or event captured in the photo, a heartwarming reminder of something close to you.

Interestingly, the second meaning could be defined in the same words: something small that represents a larger whole. I will, however, present you with a different example: a unicorn politician poses for a photo with an earth pony. The earth pony is referred to, in cases like these, as the "token earth pony", an obligatory inclusion for the sake of appearing progressive.

Same dictionary definition, different meaning.

Aren’t words fascinating?

"Did you read your interview?" Vinyl asked. She sipped her coffee, arching her eyebrows at me.

I lowered my book about an inch to glance at Vinyl.

Her look was inscrutable, and her motive behind the question was likewise impossible to guess.

I raised my book again and scoffed. "Why would I read my own interview? I was the one talking. I know what it says."

Vinyl nodded. "You would think so, wouldn't you?"

I closed my book and set it on the wooden bar before me. "What happened?"

Vinyl shrugged. "I'm guessing they didn't tell you it was gonna be one of those 'impressions' pieces."

"Impressions?" I repeated.

"Yeah. Some new series they're doing," Vinyl explained. "It's like, instead of just printing what you said, they invented an entire story that makes it more interesting."

I cocked my head. "I'm sure they wouldn't just make things up for the paper."

Vinyl's eyebrows climbed higher. She looked down into her coffee cup.

"Would they?" I asked.

Vinyl slurped her coffee loudly.

"Vinyl, would they?" I asked, grabbing her foreleg and giving it a small shake.

She set the coffee cup back down on the bar. "Alright, nothing’s, like, totally made up. But there's a lot of… what do you call it when you make a guess, but scientifically?"

"I'm sorry, guessing?" I repeated.

"No, not guessing…" Vinyl shook her head. "Something like inter-- interfere…"

"Inferencing?" I suggested.

Vinyl smacked her hoof down on the bar. "Yeah, that's it!"

The bartender gave her a dirty look.

"Er-- I mean, good show, Twilight!" Vinyl announced, clapping me on the shoulder.

The bartender rolled his eyes and returned to his work cleaning glasses.

I leaned in close to Vinyl. "Inferencing isn’t the same as-- nevermind. What kind of things did they say?" I asked in a harsh whisper. "I mean… nothing bad, right? I haven't been eating well lately, do you think she saw my kitchen cabinets?"

"You mean the apocalypse-ready tea hoard?" Vinyl asked. "No, I'm sure your secret addiction is safe."

"Hey," I said. "I like tea."

"But what about food, Twi?" Vinyl asked. “What do you even eat?”

I shrugged. "I like fast food. Can't keep that in a cabinet."

Vinyl laughed to herself, shaking her head. "Y'know, I get it. You were in school for so long, and then immediately became friends with Pinkie Pie, and you just never had to learn how to cook. But not all food is cooking, Twi. Couldn't you just keep some peanut butter? Or bread?"

"Doesn't that stuff go bad?" I asked timidly.

Vinyl's face fell into a comical grimace. "I can't seriously be the best cook in this relationship."

"Well, I think I could probably handle--" shook my head to clear it. "Hey, quit distracting me!"

Vinyl chuckled. "I can't help it. I’m great at distracting you. Must be because I’m so irresistibly charming…”

"What did they write about me?" I asked, using my best no-nonsense voice.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, her grin disappearing. "Well, they said they think you may not technically be a pony by scientific definitions," Vinyl explained. "They're worried what it might mean for your ability to rule. Y'know, legally."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah. Most ponies are seventy percent water, but they're betting you're at least seventy-five percent tea."

"Vinyl!" I scolded.

“Seriously, they’re looking for legal precedent amongst coffee addicts,” Vinyl said, fighting a smile like her life depended on it.

I growled at her, trying not to smile myself.

Vinyl snorted. "Twi, it's no big deal. I thought it was pretty funny, honestly."

"Funny?"

"Wow, you're pretty mono-- shit, what's the word? Monosyllabic, but for words?"

"Holophrastic," I said.

Vinyl looked at me. "That can’t be right.”

“It is.”

She sighed. “I'm not gonna try to pronounce that. But that's totally what you are today."

"Vinyl…" I whined, kicking my back hooves. "Just tell me what they said, okay?"

"Nothing, really!" Vinyl relented, laughing a bit. "Just weird crap. Just very typical celebrity weirdness, trying to make you accessible and just coming out sounding stupid."

"Stupid?"

"Yeah. Like, funny-stupid."

"I’m funny-stupid?"

“The article is funny-stpuid,” Vinyl clarified. “You’re funny-quirky. There’s a distinction.”

“But can everypony see that distinction?” I asked, leaning closer to Vinyl. “Or just you?”

"Twi, if you're that worried, why don't you give it a read?" Vinyl suggested. "I'm sure it's on your porch right now."

I leaned away from Vinyl, rolling my head back to look at the ceiling and releasing a long, tortured sound.

"What?" Vinyl asked, almost teasing.

"I can't read something that long about me," I said. "It's like hearing yourself on a recording. It just makes you cringe."

Vinyl looked at me, searching my face for any hint of insincerity. Finding none, she heaved a great sigh. "The main thing is that they think I'm a… I'm a 'token marefriend' that you've decided to get. Like, for publicity."

Coffee shot out my nose. "They said what?"

"It was super vague and weird," Vinyl said, waving her hooves in a universal 'chill out' gesture. "Like one sentence in a really boring part. All speculation. Nopony will even see it!"

"How could they think that?" I asked. I was getting the urge to put my face down on the bar, perhaps just lay there for a while.

""Uh…" Vinyl searched her memory. "I dunno. They seemed to think it had something to do with us not being… physically affectionate in public. And 'cause you're a princess and stuff. Like it's a statement."

"I thought you said it was just a sentence."

Vinyl smiled insincerely. "It was a long sentence?"

I smacked my forehead down on the bar.

Vinyl put a hoof on my shoulder and started to rub it gently. "Look, Twi-- it's no biggie. Let 'em say what they want. We know we're really together, right?"

I moaned into the bar.

"Oof. I know that sound."

"Is that what other ponies think of us?" I asked, my cheeks constricted by my position. I lifted my face to look at Vinyl. "Do they think we're a made-up couple? Is that how bad we are at being couple-y?"

Vinyl narrowed her eyes. "I feel like being couple-y isn't necessary to being a couple, exactly."

"But--" I sighed. "I want everypony to know how much I like you."

Vinyl smiled. "That's super sweet, Twi. Really. But I don't care! I’m happy! You don’t need to go shouting it from the rooftops or anything. I promise."

"I've called press conferences for less," I said.

"You've called press conferences?!" Vinyl repeated. "That's such a rad thing to do."

I laughed. A snort snuck out.

"If I could call press conferences, I'd literally do it all day," Vinyl said. "Just keep everypony updated on, like, the food I ate and the animals I saw out my window and stuff. Songs I really like."

"Now that sounds like a great press conference," I said.

Vinyl sat up straight and furrowed her brows, clearly channeling 'politician'. "Hello, Ponyville. Just wanted to inform you all that I had a banana at breakfast. It was a little overripe for my tastes. Not the worst I've had, but the question remains: can Ponyville produce better bananas? More on this at eight."

I laughed.

Vinyl looked down at me and smiled. She always made this face like she was proud to have made me laugh, but sort of shocked that it had worked at all. A smile with really wide, almost innocent eyes. Even after the raunchiest of jokes.

She relaxed. “You’re not seriously gonna call a press conference, are you?”

I moaned once again, softly.

“Twilight…”

“I won’t call a press conference,” I said. “But I really want to.”

Vinyl grinned. “I have a compromise: I could just kiss you more,” she said. She leaned over and wrapped her forelegs around my barrel, nuzzling the underside of my jaw.

I leaned away, blushing fiercely. “Vinyl, we’re in public!”

“That’s the point, princess!” she argued, planting a kiss on my cheek.

I giggled and tucked my snout down against my chest.

Vinyl sat back on her stool. “There. Now everypony in this speakeasy knows, at least.”

I looked around the room. Nopony was looking at us, but it still felt like we’d done something really big and daring.

That warm, buzzing feeling in my stomach swelled. It didn’t happen as often now, but there was something kind of wonderful about that. It was like a surprise, now, waiting to pop out from a corner and make my mind explode with happiness, even if only for a moment or two.

But, when the feeling dissipated, I was left with something cold and slimy.

“Vinyl?”

“Mm?”

“We’re… we’re dating,” I said.

Vinyl squinted at me. “I thought so. Are we not?”

“We are!” I agreed. “But… it’s serious, right?”

Vinyl made a strange face, as if this was a conversation she had had before and was not eager to relive. “Meaning?”

“Meaning… not… casual?” I said carefully.

Vinyl scoffed. “I’m not planning on breaking up with you anytime soon, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I know, I know,” I said. I looked down at my coffee and used my magic to gentle swirl the last few remaining sips around. “But… are we in it for the long haul?”

“I’m in it as long as you’re in it, Twi,” Vinyl said. Her tone was even and low.

I smiled to myself. “Well… good.”

Vinyl grinned at me, then sucked down the rest of her coffee. She slammed the mug down on the bar like a pirate. The whole concept of the speakeasy seemed to confuse her, sometimes; or perhaps she just wasn’t clear on what periods of history were happening concurrently.

I could hardly correct her. It always made me laugh, after all.

“Y’know, I kept that first note you wrote me,” Vinyl said.

I looked at her. “What note?”

Vinyl smiled. “You don’t remember it? You used a whole piece of parchment just to write ‘yes’, with, like, a hundred exclamation points. I had asked you to come here with me.”

I blushed. “I… might remember that.”

“I use it as a bookmark. Have it all folded up with your name on the front. That way I see it every time I read, and I think of you,” Vinyl said. “Not that I’m not thinking of you every time I read, anyway.”

I giggled. “That’s… really cute.”

Vinyl made the motion to flip her mane, but it was totally slicked back and motionless. “I know, right?”

I snorted. “Why-- I mean, what made you think to tell me?”

“Just ‘cause… well, if I wasn’t serious about this, why would I have kept that?” Vinyl said. “It was right after I met you. I had no reason to hold onto it.”

“Just wanted me that bad, huh?” I murmured, reaching one hoof over to kick her playfully under the bar.

Vinyl gave me a look of mock surprise, laying a dainty hoof over her chest. “Why, princess! How crude!”

I laughed. Vinyl tried to hold it together, but seemed to break after just a moment of looking at me. It wasn’t funny laughter so much as… happy laughter.

“I kept those ear plugs,” I said.

“Oh, don’t--” Vinyl waved her hoof. “That’s ‘cause you thought they were cool. Not ‘cause you liked me.”

“I did like you!” I insisted.

“But you didn’t know it!” Vinyl argued back.

“It was a subconscious thing!” I told her. “I subconsciously decided to keep the ear plugs because I liked you. Subconsciously.”

Vinyl gave me a look of comical disbelief. “Oh, yeah. Very convincing, Twi.”

“It’s true!” I said, giggling and poking Vinyl’s side.

Vinyl gave me a sidelong glance, smirking to herself.

I bit my lip, then leaned over to peck Vinyl on the cheek. “I promise. I liked you plenty.”

Vinyl laid her hoof over her forehead dramatically. “Oh, my stars! The princess liked me! However shall I recover?”

Author's Note

Fluffy :twilightsmile:
Consider this a nice little break before the next two chapters :raritywink:

Urban

Alright. Here’s the deal:

When you’re a musician, you take what you can get. Especially if you’re a lesser-known musician. Especially if you don’t really have anywhere to live and are looking for some money to find a place.

It’s just good financial sense.

Unfortunately, when you’re a musician, you often get yourself tied up in “musician drama”. Silly as it may sound, I truly believe it exists; the rivalries that sprung up at Celestia’s school often rivaled those dramaticized in ancient texts.

Musician drama, however, takes on an interesting flavor when it is put on a pedestal. Professional performers will often go to monumental extremes to please as many ponies as possible, including painting on a happy face and pretending to like those they despise.

These were things I had no way of knowing, except, of course, that I was dating a musician.

I had had a taste of it, sure. Little run-ins here and there with groups that Vinyl seemed to hate with the power of a thousand suns, and groups that seemed to hate her right back. The reasons were always fuzzy at best.

All this is to say, of course, that getting a bunch of musicians together for a large-scale festival can almost never go well. All will accept, and none will like it.

Yet they do it anyway.

Vinyl threw down the flyer in front of me with such force I thought she’d break the table.

“Oh!” I jumped, and my chair squealed against the tile floor.

Vinyl stood still as a soldier, so I leaned over to get a look at the flyer. It was bright, almost explosively so, with intricate sunburst designs and a long, long list of what I assumed were musical artists. Centerstage in the image was Countess Coloratura herself, flanked by other probably-famous ponies that I couldn’t place.

I looked up at Vinyl. “What’s--”

“It’s the Annual Canterlot Creative Up-and-Comers Summer Extravaganza, ACCUSE for short,” Vinyl explained to me, reciting the lengthy and bizarre title with total seriousness. “A four-day music festival hosted by the one and only Countess Coloratura. It is the number-one way to grow your brand as a musician in all of Equestria.”

I blinked. The words had flown in one and ear out the other without making a single stop. “Is it?”

VInyl closed her eyes, took a small breath in, and let it out. “Every year, I send them a demo tape and politely and professionally request a shot at the main stage and, every year, I am rejected,” she said, all in one breath. “I have never once been able to play even a single note for this event.”

She grew deathly silently. The sounds of the diner closed back in around us. I was mentally preparing to comfort Vinyl as she broke down crying on the table before me, but she seemed to be frozen in time and space, her eyes closed, her breath steady and true.

“Vinyl?” I asked softly.

“However!” Vinyl’s eyes snapped open, and she leapt into a kind of power stance. “This morning, I received this in the mail.”

Vinyl slammed a second paper product down on the table.

This time, I thought to lift the coffee mugs off the table with my magic. After replacing them, I peered down at the new addition to the table: an envelope. It was a vibrant red, decorated with sharp and energetic shapes outlined in yellow and black.

“Twilight, I’ve never gotten an envelope this thick from them,” Vinyl said, struggling to keep her voice even. “Never.”

“Have you opened it?” I asked.

Vinyl shook her head. “I’m terrified.”

I laughed. “Vinyl, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Vinyl flopped down in the chair beside me. “It could be another rejection. Duh.”

“And you’ve had how many of those?” I asked.

“Not helping, Twi!” Vinyl complained. She put her head down on the table. “Can you just open it for me?”

I chuckled. “Oh, come on. I’m sure you want to be the one to open this.”

“I really, really don’t,” Vinyl said into the table.

“Vinyl…” I held the letter up, waving it about where she would be able to see, had her face not been down on the table. “Come on, I know you want to!”

Vinyl lifted her head. “Just open it and read it to me! Please?”

“Vinyl, I really think--"

"Please?" Vinyl begged.

"I--"

"Please!"

"Fine!" I snatched the letter back over to my side of the table, holding my snout high. "But only because you asked nicely."

Vinyl lifted her head a tiny bit, her eyes wide and shimmering.

I held the envelope out in front of me.

I guess I didn't think much of it. After all, Vinyl had played a lot of shows before, right? And this was some sort of amateurs' event. Definitely not a big draw for anypony but… well, ponies like Vinyl.

Right?

I tore the top of the envelope off with my magic, slowly and neatly. I swear I could see the beads of sweat rolling down Vinyl's temples.

The envelope practically inflated with the top removed, ready to explode its contents all over the table. I gently tugged out the thick packet of papers and unfolded them before me.

I cleared my throat. "Vinyl Scratch-- We are pleased--"

She was out of her seat before I knew it, screaming nonsense at the top of her lungs. Interestingly, only a few of the families stopped eating breakfast to stare.

"Vinyl, shush!" I scolded.

"What stage!" she shouted. I'm sure it was meant to be a question, but it sounded more like an exclamation. She was bouncing up and down eagerly, eyes trained on me. “What stage? What stage?”

My eyes scanned down the page a little further. "The main stage!"

Her shouting grew in volume. I tucked my ears down against my head and cringed into myself, flashing Vinyl an uncertain smile.

She grabbed me by the shoulders very suddenly. "Twilight!"

I shrank away from her. Her energy was so intense it was disturbing. "Uh… yes?"

"Do you know what this means?" Her eyes were sparkling, equal parts excited and mischievous.

"Uh…"

She started to shake me by the shoulders. "Twilight do you know what this means!" she repeated as fast as the words would tumble out of her mouth.

"W-what?!" I asked, my voice shaking like a leaf.

"We're going to Canterlot!" Vinyl said. She sort of punched the air, as if she were posing for a photo.

"We are?"

"We are!" Vinyl accentuated her excitement by re-striking her pose, with an extra dose of drama.

I chuckled and dropped the packet of papers onto the table. Before I could ask for details, Vinyl rushed me and wrapped her forelegs around me in a very tight hug. She knocked every breath of wind out of me in one go.

"It's gonna be so fun, you'll love it!" Vinyl whisper-squealed in my ear.

I laughed and hugged her back. "I'm sure I will, Vi."

In all the excitement, we hadn't reviewed other main-stage players. I mean, we would have done it eventually. It's nice to see what you're up against, right?

If we had looked at the list, I'm sure we would have still ended up going. Even after we saw her name, tucked delicately and demurely between an Acapella group and a bluegrass band: Octavia Melody, cello.

ACCUSE was held in Canterlot. Not center-city Canterlot, not lower-east Canterlot… just Canterlot.

It was everywhere. You couldn’t take two steps without tripping over a pony wearing “ACCUSE Staff” gear. There were stages being erected throughout the city, as well as a variety of other attractions ranging from sponsor booths to dunk tanks. Every alley, every nook and cranny, every bit of sidewalk was claimed.

I was totally star-struck as we entered, a cart filled with Vinyl's equipment in tow. I had never seen the city like this before.

"Is this a new event?" I asked, narrowly dodging a construction worker swinging a beam.

"This is the eighth year running!" Vinyl happily informed me. "Are you telling me you've never been? I thought you were from Canterlot."

"I don't think I've ever even heard of it," I said.

Above us, two pegasi hoisted a banner into the air, hanging it between two buildings. The banner simply read "ACCUSE: Sunburn Stage" in bold, harsh, red letters.

"How is that possible?" Vinyl asked, laughing incredulously. "You must have at least seen them setting up. Oh, unless…"

I looked over at Vinyl. "Unless what?" I asked.

Vinyl suppressed a giggle. "Well, it's the end of the school year. Any chance you were the type to go on full-lockdown during finals?"

I blushed. "Um… maybe?"

"Wow." Vinyl shook her head, laughing to herself. "You're such a huge dork. So wrapped up in study that you missed an entire music festival at least three times. You're a legend, Twilight Sparkle."

"Oh, come on. I’m sure it’s gotten bigger recently… right?”

"Nope!" Vinyl said cheerfully. “You’re just a dork.”

“I am n--”

“Dork!”

I chuckled to myself. “Vinyl, come on…”

“You’re a dork, and I love it,” Vinyl announced. “I mean, come on. If you weren’t such a dork, I wouldn’t be able to show you all of this stuff. You’d have already done it.”

“Well, if you weren’t so popular, I wouldn’t be able to show you all my dorky stuff,” I said, hip-checking her playfully.

“See? We’re the perfect team.” Vinyl skipped a few more strides ahead of me, then skidded to a stop. "Hey, uh… you said you knew where the hotel was?"

"The Walhorse?" I pulled hard to catch up with Vinyl. "Sure, it's just down the street to your right."

She could barely contain her excitement as we continued our trek, taking three tiny steps to every one of mine, as exhausting as that must have been.

All along the sidewalks, ponies were prepping small tents filled with hoofmade paintings, clothing, and knick-knacks for sale. Colorful umbrellas were exploding open like fireworks in my peripherals, a festive defense against the harsh light of the summer sun. Somepony was already playing music on an oversized stereo. A good, light-hearted tune with plenty of guitar and drums.

I took a deep breath in, closing my eyes to focus on the smell. The air had that special early-summer sweetness to it, mixed with the distant scents of fresh-squeezed lemonade and grill smoke.

It always took me right back to that first summer in Ponyville. There was an indescribable feeling there; something both light and heavy, both happy and sad. To call it nostalgia would be an oversimplification, I think.

Vinyl broke into a gallop on her last few strides, leaping up onto the sidewalk like a ballet dancer. "We're here!" she announced gleefully.

I beamed at her. "Get the door for me?"

She scrambled to the door and pulled it open. The glint off its mirrored surface danced like a shooting star.

The thing about living in a city (or even near a city) is that you never really do the toursit-y stuff. I, certainly, had never stayed in a Canterlot hotel. If I'm honest, I had never even entered a Canterlot hotel until today.

My jaw dropped. The vaulted ceilings, the exquisite tapestries, the marble floors… it was like a miniature castle!

Vinyl had one goal, however. She trotted forward with great purpose and poise, eyes riveted on sign-in booths lined up against the western wall of the lobby.

She rolled up to the third table (marked "P-Z" by a hanging banner) and pushed her shades up onto her head. "Vinyl Scratch?"

The mare peered up at Vinyl over her own spectacles. "Do you have some identification?"

Their conversation faded into a dull background hum as I surveyed the lobby more closely.

There were plants three times taller than I was in massive pots throughout the room. Potted plants as big as a tree! I looked closer. They may have actually been trees. Swanky.

Even the carpet I was standing on seemed impossibly plush and luxurious for a hotel as old as this one. For the first time in my life, I found myself pondering the process of re-carpeting… was that really something other ponies did?

Ah, and the doors. Massive things, taller than the plants, even. Everything on them shiny and new, save for the worn places where ponies would push them open, had been pushing them open for many years. But, still, it seemed purposeful. Stately. A polite and professional way to show off how old and successful you were.

The door swung open.

At first, I craned my neck for a glimpse of the arriving party. I knew some celebrities, after all.

Then she came in, toting a case in the unmistakable shape of a cello.

My eyes went wide, and I snapped back to attention, facing the sign-in booth.

"...make sure you wear the badge when you're out and about, even if it's not near your performance time," the mare was saying. "That's how we keep track of where ponies are supposed to be. Got it?"

Vinyl nodded. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Great." She was not nearly as enthusiastic as Vinyl. "Here's your room key. You're in 421."

Vinyl smiled and took the tag with her magic, perhaps a little too excitedly.

I stopped her with my hoof before she could get away from the table.

"Twi? We got the key, let's--"

"Did you check the list of performers?" I asked in a whisper.

Vinyl's eyes narrowed. "Not all of 'em. Yet. It's a long list, I was gonna go over it tonight."

I huffed lightly. "Who else do you know who might have been looking for an opportunity like this?"

Vinyl's mouth opened. Then snapped shut. Then opened again. "Is she here?" she whispered.

I nodded solemnly.

"Ah, shit…" Vinyl put a hoof on her forehead. "I wasn't-- I didn't think--"

"Let's just get up to our room, and we can--"

"Vinyl?"

We both froze, drawn out of our whispered conversation by the familiar voice. We turned out heads in unison towards the source.

Octavia Melody stood by the sign-up booth next to ours. Her mane was perfectly straight. Her coat was perfectly brushed. Her bow tie was perfectly tied. Her posture was perfectly… perfect. "I thought that was you. You're here for the festival, I assume?”

She looked almost… bored. Nonchalant, but all the way down to her bones, instead of just outwardly faking it like the rest of us.

“Uh…” Vinyl’s mouth was hanging open like a trout, and her eyes were just as foggy. “Yes?”

"Well, that's lovely to hear," Octavia said. "Congratulations."

She turned back to the mare at the booth and continued her quiet, polite conversation. The two exchanged some papers, some cards, and a very similar conversation to the one Vinyl had just finished.

I'm honestly not sure what Vinyl and I did in that time. Probably nothing much more than gawk.

Octavia took her badge from the mare at the booth and turned away.

She did a double-take. "Oh. You're still here?"

Vinyl and I looked down at our hooves.

"Goodness, you're practically twins," Octavia said, with a little laugh. "Well, I suppose I'll see you soon, then?"

"Uh… sure," Vinyl said.

"Where are you performing?" Octavia asked. "What stage?"

"M-main," Vinyl stuttered. "On Saturday night."

"Oh, so am I!" Octavia smiled a little, almost genuinely. "Well, I'll certainly see you then. Hope you both enjoy the festival."

"Uh--"

"Vinyl," she said, nodded towards her ex-marefriend. "Princess."

She walked between us, cello in tow, right into the waiting elevator. The doors slid shut with the same quiet nonchalance that Octavia had expressed.

When the elevator pinged softly to announce its arrival on the next floor up, Vinyl whirled to look at me. “Did she seem mad to you?”

“Wh-- mad?” I furrowed my brows. “It was like she barely knew who you were.”

“I know! She’s gotta be mad, right?” Vinyl was shifting her weight from hoof to hoof nervously, surveying the room for potential threats. “Oh, Celestia… what if she tries to sabotage my performance? What if-- what if all my friends are really here for her and not me? What if--”

“Vi!” I grabbed by the shoulders. “That’s crazy!”

Vinyl blinked. “R-right…”

“Right.”

“She’s probably just as excited to be here as I am… right?” Vinyl asked.

I scoffed. “Well, I dunno about that. But I’m sure she’s going to be a little wrapped up in her own performance for pulling stunts with Lyra and Ditzy.”

Vinyl swallowed. “Right.”

“Right,” I agreed, nodding solemnly. “Come on, let’s check into our room, okay?”

Vinyl hesitated, but nodded. “Yeah. Alright. I’m overreacting, right?”

“N-No!” I insisted. “Well… yes. A little.”

Vinyl sighed and hung her head. “Sorry, Twi. I’ve never had an ex before. I dunno the protocall.”

I snickered. “No worries. We’ll get through it, okay?”

Vinyl smiled. “Okay.”

We walked to the elevator together, and I reached over to press the up arrow. The button glowed a soft yellow-white, and I heard the elevator’s mechanisms spin up. It was nearly silent, but not quite.

Vinyl nickered softly to herself. “You’ve dated other ponies before, right?”

“Uh… yes,” I said carefully. “Why?”

“How do you deal with them?” Vinyl asked. “Exes, I mean.”

“Oh…” I faked like I was trying to remember, but a flood of images flooded my mind instantly.

Flash Sentry. I had noticed him training for the guard with my brother, and become infatuated instantly. Shining had graciously set me up with him, and we’d been on a few very lame dates. He was my first kiss.

We didn’t get along. He was far too much of a meat-head to get me, especially at that age. Things got weird between us and we ended it.

Except he had recently been accepted to the royal guard. I still saw him, still bumped into him. To his credit, he essentially pretended we had never dated. I tried to do the same… but, every time I looked at him, it was like I was seeing the ghosts of a younger me, giving and receiving what were probably the worst kisses in the kingdom.

Worst of all, he was still… moderately attractive.

“Twi?” Vinyl poked me gently.

“I’ve never really had a problem!” I said, my voice uneven. “Nope. No issues. Can’t really help, I guess.”

Vinyl squinted at me. “Alright…”

Our elevator arrives with a polite “ping”. Vinyl helped me maneuver our cart into it, holding the doors open with an outstretched hoof. Eventually we made it in, pressed together like sardines against one wall.

The elevator slid up one floor. Two.

“Who did you date?” Vinyl asked. “I feel like I’ve never asked you that.”

I clucked my tongue. “Oh, just one of my brother’s friends from the royal guard. Flash Sentry.”

“A stallion?” Vinyl asked.

“Yep,” I replied.

“Huh.”

Level four. Level five.

The elevator pinged again, and the car came to a gentle stop on level six.

“Uh-oh,” Vinyl muttered, trying to wiggle further into the elevator. “Not enough room for any hop-ons.”

The doors slid open.

Countess Coloratura.

Of course she was here. She was the main act, the sponsor, the star. She wasn’t made up or anything, either-- just standing there, looking pretty average, waiting for an elevator.

My jaw dropped, but not because of her.

She was flanked by two members of the royal guard.

One was a pegasus mare. One was Flash Sentry.

Vinyl’s eyes went wide. “Uh, we can-- I mean, we can--”

“We’ll take the next,” the Countess said, rolling her eyes and turning her head away.

Vinyl’s mouth hung open. My mouth hung open. A couple of goldfish gawking at a celebrity.

The elevator door slowly slid shut, and once again began its trek upwards.

Level seven. Level eight.

“Damn,” Vinyl shook her head. “You’d think a princess would have some pull with a popstar. Has she always been that uptight?”

She turned to look at me. I was still frozen.

“Shit, Twi, you okay?” Vinyl nudged me gently with one hoof. “You look like you saw a ghost or something.”

Author's Note

To be continued... tomorrow!
:raritywink:
Told y'all I had things cookin

Vulnerable

Things happen fast at a music festival.

Maybe this is merely my experience, being outrageously stressed out and easily overwhelmed. It felt like everything was sort of tumbling down a hill out of control, our brief rests at night the equivalent of hitting a rock and flying through the air, only to land harder than you took off.

Although, I have a feeling things were going fast for Vinyl, too. She also seemed stressed though in a different way; like she didn’t want to miss anything. Like she was carefully recording and photographing every moment in her own mind, so she could look back fondly upon the memories.

I have to admit, though… despite my fear that I would be robbed, punched, hollered at, or vomited on… I loved it.

It was like all of summer wrapped up in one package. There was friendship. There was love. There was music. There was watermelon and lemonade and barbeque. There was sunburn and yard games and endless laughter. Even in just one night, I felt like I had experienced enough summer for a whole month.

Our friends arrived a day after us. That was when things really sped up.

Friday morning, Vinyl and I were awoken by a frantic flurry of knocks at our hotel room door.

“Shit!” Vinyl shrieked, sitting up so fast out of a sound sleep that she immediately tumbled to the floor.

I sat forward, too, probably making an unintelligible sound.

“Twilight!” somepony from the other side of the door. “Twilight! I’m in the room next to you! How crazy is that!”

I could barely open my eyes. “Pinkie?” I mumbled.

Vinyl moaned softly from the floor of the hotel room.

The knocking continued. I laid back down on my pillow and rolled sideways, like a log, out of bed and onto my hooves.

"Twilight…" Pinkie was singing from behind the door, still knocking. "Come out, comt out, wherever you are…"

I slumped across the floor, tossing a glance at Vinyl's body sprawled beside the bed. She seemed fine, I decided.

I opened the door as far as the latch would allow. "Pinkie, what?"

"I just wanted to say good morning!" she exclaimed, beaming at me. "The rest of the girls are still checking in downstairs."

I sighed. My eyes were barely open. "How did you know I was here?"

"Pinkie Sense!"

"I thought that was just for--"

"The nature of Pinkie Sense should not be questioned, Twilight!" she scolded, tapping the tip of my snout through the door.

I recoiled. “I’ll meet everypony downstairs, okay? Once I’m awake.”

Pinkie giggled. “You are awake, silly!”

“Not by anypony’s standards but yours,” I muttered. “Just… please give me and Vinyl twenty minutes to get ready. We’ll meet you all in the lobby.”

Pinkie drew in a large gasp. “You spent the night with Vinyl?!”

I closed the door gently, but insistently, in her face.

Vinyl was still sprawled out across the floor. I could picture the chalk outline now…

I nudged her with one hoof. “Vi.”

She moaned.

“Did you hit your head?”

“No…”

“Do you wanna get up?”

“N-no…”

I sighed deeply, then smiled to myself. There was something special about waking up next to the pony that you lo-- er, liked. Liked a lot. Even in these less-than-perfect circumstances, it was kinda magical.

I kicked the blanket out of the way and got down on the floor beside her. “Wanna do-over?”

Vinyl nodded.

I rolled onto my side and scooted close to Vinyl, wrapping my foreleg around her barrel. Vinyl snuggled back into me. Her mane tickled my throat and jaw, but I buried my face in it anyway. She smelled like the beach.

There’s nothing quite like feeling the breathing of another pony while you sleep. They’re just so… vulnerable and open to you. Giving you every ounce of their trust, allowing you to wrap them up in your embrace and just be held. It was a promise; a promise to keep each other safe and warm and comforted. Every time she breathed, every time I felt the resistance against my leg as her chest expanded, I was reminded of that promise I’d made.

After a momentary cuddle, I murmured “Good morning.”

Vinyl sighed happily. “Good morning, Twi.”

“My friends are here.”

Vinyl laughed groggily. “I heard.”

“Do you wanna go with them for breakfast?” I asked. “I’m sure they’d love to have you.”

Vinyl made a sound between a moan and a sigh, and rolled onto her back to look up at me. “Five more minutes?”

I leaned down and kissed her, my hoof tracing the outline of her lowest rib. Her own hoof reached up and grazed my collarbone.

I pulled back. “Come on. It’ll be fun, I promise.”

“Ugh.” Vinyl’s head hit the carpet again, and she stared up at the ceiling wistfully. “Of course it’ll be fun. But do I want it more than I want sleep?”

I furrowed my brows and stared down at her. She stroked her chin, lost in fake musing.

“Vinyl…” I warned.

“I have an idea,” Vinyl said. “Let’s both get back in bed. No sleeping required.” She flashed me a cheesy grin.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I muttered.

I got to my hooves quickly and trotted to the bathroom, smirking all the way.

Even from the bathroom, I could hear Vinyl scramble to her hooves. “Twi? Twi, I was kidding! Twi!”

The girls were spread out across two of the couches in the lobby, all chatting eagerly.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were wearing matching bandanas, which was probably the most affectionate thing I’d seen the two of them do. Period. Just imagining the conversation that led to that fashion choice was enough to prove their devotion to one another in my eyes.

Rarity and Fluttershy were desperately trying to calm down a revved-up PInkie Pie, with little success. I have absolutely no idea what energy she was running on, exactly; as far as I knew, nopony had eaten yet. My best guess was that she’d gone for the complementary coffee atop the minifridge in her hotel room. Whoever left her that was going to pay the price, that’s for sure.

“Hey, look who it is!” Applejack called. “Star of the show!”

I grinned and nudged Vinyl.

“Wha-- me?” She pointed to herself.

“You’re playing this thing, aren’t you?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That sounds like star material to me.”

Vinyl made some sort of sound between a scoff and a snort, waving her hoof dismissively at Rainbow and Applejack.

“Ohmigosh!” Pinkie zipped over between us in the blink of an eye, drawing me and Vinyl into a group hug. “Now I know two famous ponies!”

“I’d think that the whole group of us would qualify as famous,” Rarity said. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t like that thought,” Fluttershy commented, pulling her mane up to her face and peering over it carefully. “Famous means that other ponies watch you, right? I don’t like other ponies looking at me.”

I looked over at Vinyl. “Have any ideas about breakfast?”

“Oh!” Vinyl stomped her hooves excitedly. “There’s this one stallion who has a crepe cart. He always sets up near the Canterlot Gardens. We should go there!”

Rarity sighed. “A food cart? I was hoping we could have a sit-down meal.”

“You’ve clearly never been to a music festival before, Rares,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “Next you’ll say you wanna eat at the hotel restaurant.”

“Oh!” Rarity’s eyes lit up. “There’s a hotel restaurant?”

Applejack clucked her tongue. “Now look what you’ve done.”

“Come on, girls!” I said, fluffing my wings up a bit. “This is Vinyl’s home turf, let’s do it her way.” I threw her a small smile.

Vinyl looked shocked. “Aw, n-no. We don’t have to--”

Pinkie whooped excitedly. And loudly. “Let’s do it! Crepe cart guy!”

“Crepes sound nice,” Fluttershy commented. “Do you think he’ll have blackberries?”

“Let’s go find out,” Applejack said.

The girls spoke their ascent in unison, then moved towards the doors in a small gaggle.

I hung back with Vinyl. “Excited?”

Vinyl sighed lightly in disbelief. “It’s so crazy that I get to do this with the Elements of Harmony.”

I smiled. “We’re so happy to be a part of this!”

Vinyl smiled back.

“Lead the way, Vi!” I said.

With only a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed my hoof in hers and pulled me towards the doors.

If I’d thought Canterlot had been crowded last night, that was nothing at all compared to today. Apparently last night had been a sort of “soft opening” for the festival, if you will; a day for participants to check in and acclimate themselves to the area, not so much a day for actual festivities.

Today… was a horse of a different color.

Had it not been for Pinkie’s magnificently tall mane, we may have already lost our friends in the crowd. There were ponies absolutely everywhere, on every square inch of sidewalk and cobblestone, packed in like sardines and moving about in hypnotic patterns. As the heat of the summer sun hit me full force, there was only one thought in my head: holy shit, please let the sun go down early today.

Vinyl seemed to sense my trepidation. Perhaps it was the way my legs locked up when I saw the crowd.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Just stick with me, okay? If you get claustrophobic, fly up for a little air.”

I nodded, and swallowed hard.

“Twi?”

“What?”

“Thanks for doing this,” Vinyl said. “Coming with me. I know it’s not your scene.”

I laughed nervously. “Sure wish you had something like those ear plugs for my whole body right now!”

“Do you wanna go back up to the room?” Vinyl asked. “I can bring you a crepe.”

I closed my eyes. Deep breath in… hold it… let it out slow. Just like Cadance taught you. “No. I wanna do this. WIth you.”

Vinyl leaned her head against my neck. “It’s not as scary as it looks. Promise.”

Walking down into the crowd was like entering a giant game of pinball, only you couldn’t quite tell where the bumpers were until you ran into them. Sometimes you could glide along with the crowd, but every once in a while you needed to turn into the flow of traffic, and it felt like plunging headfirst into a breaking wave.

Okay, not exactly like that. But making awkward eye contact with dozens of ponies as I accidentally cut them off was the worst.

Over it all, though, was music. Music from all over the city, from a great variety of stages and artists. I held onto Vinyl tightly and tried to think only of the music… let the magic of it guide me through the crowds.

First, on the left, a rock group playing on the tiny Sunburn Stage. Their lyrics were incomprehensible from this distance, and their voices a little pitchy, but altogether wonderful just the same.

Then, on the right, a singer backed only by a string quartet, belting her heart out on a song I could almost recognize. The banner over their heads read “Summer Nights Stage”, in letters that were softer than most other promotional materials I had seen.

Right in front of us as we turned off to the gardens was Canterlot Plaza. It was probably the largest gathering place in the city. I knew it as the stage for several protests, as the central location of the Summer Sun Celebration. But it was hardly recognizable now; just a sea of ponies’ heads, leading down to a massive stage. I could hardly believe it had been erected in a day.

There were large, hanging banners on every light post from here to the stage, proudly proclaiming “Main Stage” in bold, stylized letters.

I gasped audibly. “Vinyl, you’re playing there?!”

Vinyl looked at me, then off where my eyes were pointing. She chuckled. “You betcha, Twi.”

“But it’s huge!”

“It’s the main stage!” Vinyl explained, though the explanation meant little to me. “Of course it’s huge!”

“But--”

“Come on!” Vinyl said, tugging me along. “You’ll see it plenty, trust me!”

At last, the group of girls ahead of us seemed to pop out the side of the massive crowd. The ponies thinned considerably on the way to the garden. I let out a massive sigh of relief and picked up my pace.

Vinyl pulled me out of the crowd as if she were pulling me through the side of a balloon. I shot out at her with some momentum and smashed into her side, nearly knocking her down.

“Wow! I guess the crepes aren’t so popular, huh?” Rainbow commented. “There’s nopony down this way.”

Vinyl shrugged. “The wristbands get you free egg sandwiches somewhere back there. Not worth it, though. Soggy eggs.”

Rainbow stuck her tongue out in disgust.

“Good lookin’ out, Vinyl,” Applejack commented. Her tail swished against Rainbow’s, and Rainbow returned the flick.

“Oh, get a room, you fiends!” Rarity commented sarcastically. “Nopony wants to see such egregious tail-swishing in public!”

Rainbow blushed fiercely and tucked her tail between her legs.

Applejack merely rolled her eyes. “You’re just jealous.” She slung a foreleg around Rainbow’s shoulders and pulled her in for a side-hug. Rainbow blushed harder.

Rarity winked at Pinkie, who giggled far-too obviously.

Vinyl nudged me. "You alright?"

I nodded.

"The music helps, right?" Vinyl said. "This would all suck without music, lemme tell ya. Total waste of time."

I chuckled. "Not totally."

Vinyl looked a little surprised. Happy surprised. Impressed surprised.

"Some us the crepes, Vinyl!" Pinkie called, somehow managing to sound very distant from only a few strides ahead of us.

Vinyl laughed. "You got it, Pinkie!"

She gave me a look, and the two of us trotted to the head of the group.

Vinyl led us around the outer edge of the Canterlot Gardens with purpose. She was scanning every side street and alleyway for this mysterious food cart.

Rarity, Fluttershy, and I seemed fascinated by the gardens themselves. This was a lovely time to see them-- everything in full bloom, smelling fragrant and sweet.

Pinkie Pie was teasing Rainbow and Applejack mercilessly. She seemed to be dating the two of them to be more and more affectionate with one another, and they were giving in brilliantly.

All of this was backed by the distant sounds of folk music, sung loudly and fiercely, lilting over the city's buildings and down to us. Two voices, singing together in perfect harmony, strumming guitars in unison. Even deeper than those sounds were the backing instruments, only heard in snippets; tambourine, toms, banjo, fiddle, harmonica.

It made me want to dance, to sing, to leap atop Vinyl and tackle her into the depths of the gardens, laying in the cool greenery long into the night. Only the music and the sounds of stomping applause to mark the time.

"Ooh! There he is!" Vinyl said excitedly. She broke into a brisk trot, and I followed closely behind.

The heavenly scent of delicate crepe batter and freshly-hulled strawberries lifted me from the ground like a cloud of pure joy.

We crowded about the cart like a flock of hungry seagulls. The stallion behind it seemed overwhelmed by the sudden familiar faces which appeared before him.

"Uh… wh-what can I get you girls?" he asked cautiously, mustache bristling with each syllable. "A-and Princess, of course."

*Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie was bouncing eagerly up and down. "Do you have anything chocolate-y?"

The stallion took a hesitant step away from his own cart, just to put some distance between himself and Pinkie. "Uh, sure do. I can get you a--"

"Oh, no, wait! Something caramel-y?" Pinkie suggested.

The stallion blinked. "Sure. I have some caramel sauce right--"

"Ooh! Ooh! Wait!"

"Pinkie!" Rarity scolded. "Please!"

I laughed. "We'll come back with our orders in a moment."

The group of us drifted reluctantly away from the cart, Pinkie still craning her neck to see the possible ingredients beyond the glass.

I squeezed and eyes shut and conjured a quill and parchment. "Okay, what does everypony want?"

The group clamored to shout out the things they wanted. Applejack: apples, of course. Rarity: berries and chocolate. Pinkie: just chocolate. Fluttershy: just berries. Rainbow Dash: a bunch of whipped cream, nothing else.

Vinyl watched the whole thing like it was a tennis match, her eyes flicking between my quill and the mouths of my friends. I think, to her, there was still something very mysterious about the way our group operated. Mysteriously entertaining, at least.

"Viny/?" I asked at last.

Vinyl snatched the parchment out of my grasp. "I got this, princess. Why don't you and your friends find a place to sit in the garden?"

I smiled. "Thanks, Vi."

"Lemme guess-- you want something savory?" Vinyl arched her brows at me. "Probably something weird like… lentils?"

My smile grew. "How'd you know?"

*Oh, I just know you're always gonna ask for something super weird, that's all," Vinyl said, winking at me. "I'll get you something good. Go find a shady spot, okay?"

"You got it," I agreed.

Vinyl gave me a quick peck on the cheek and scooted off to the crepe cart.

"You two are gettin' pretty close, huh?" Applejack commented.

I shrugged, disguising a blush. "Oh, I dunno."

"Tsk, not as close as you and Rainbow Dash," Rarity complained loudly.

Pinkie suppressed a giggle again as she made sneaky eye contact with Rarity.

I furrowed my brows in their direction. Rarity shrugged.

Applejack reached over to pull Rainbow Dash into her side. "And what of it? Can't handle seeing a couple this good lookin'?"

"AJ, come on…" Rainbow tucked her head into her marefriend's neck to hide her smile.

"Can we maybe try to find a seat?" Fluttershy asked. "The sun's getting a little hot for me…"

"Good idea, Fluttershy," I said. "Come on, everypony! Let's find a place to sit."

We ambled together into the Canterlot Gardens.

I had not spent as much time in the gardens as perhaps I should have. They were lush, quiet, and filled with comfortable seating. The perfect place to study, nearly year-round thanks to the greenhouse at the center.

But it was certainly too hot for the greenhouse now.

We wandered along the broken-stone pathways, at last coming upon a small clearing under a willow tree.The music from the festival was still reaching us, but it was now a mere suggestion of music; the hint of a strum, the sailing sound of a held note, now supported by the rustling of the leaves instead of the shake of a tambourine.

“I can’t believe nopony else is here,” Fluttershy commented. “It’s so much nicer than those crowds.”

Rainbow Dash scoffed, evidently over her embarrassment. “Yeah, but you can’t hear shit from here. Ponies pay for the music, Shy.”

“I’d pay just to sit under this nice tree,” Fluttershy said, smiling warmly.

“You don’t have to pay to sit here, though,” Rainbow argued. “It’s free.”

“Oh, but I’d still pay.”

“But, you can’t--”

“The ponies who tend the plants deserve a nice wage, Rainbow.” Fluttershy’s face was stony and sincere.

“Well, but--” Rainbow looked up at Applejack for support.

Applejack closed her eyes and shook her head. Not worth it, RD.

Rainbow sighed in frustration. “Yeah. You’re right.”

I chuckled to myself. It was little moments like these that would stay in my mind for years to come, I was convinced. The details of our battles and triumphs were like a flurry of adrenaline, nothing more than dark smudges of feeling. But times like these were filed away in perfect clarity.

I breathed in deeply once again. The particular notes of the summer air would forever exist in my memory, as well.

“Did you girls look at the performance list?” I asked.

Rarity looked at me. “Did you? That thing was enormous! Far too much to read closely.”

“That’s why you gotta master speed-reading,” Rainbow said. “Get the goods and get out.”

Applejack chuckled knowingly, though what she knew was a mystery. She was laying in the grass, one hoff crossed over the other, looking utterly natural there in the dappled sunlight.

Rainbow rolled over so that she was leaning against her marefriend. “What’s that laugh for?”

“Ah, nothin’,” Applejack said.

Rainbow made a face of frustration and flicked her tail, but she only succeeded in looking like a frustrated foal.

Pinkie giggled.

Everypony was acting… odd, I noticed. Like some of them were keeping a secret, and doing it rather poorly. Normally, that would stress me out, but I had learned to trust my friends. I could take it. I’m sure everything was fine.

My stomach, however, did not agree.

The sound of approaching laughter broke me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, don’t tell me somepony has found our spot already?” Rarity murmured. “I don’t feel like sharing.”

Something about the voices was very familiar, though. Familiar in a way that made all my fur stand on end.

The willow branches parted, and there stood the four ponies I had hoped not to see: Lyra Heartstrings, BonBon Sweetiedrops, and DItzy Doo, led by the incomparable Octavia Melody.

“Oh.” Octavia sighed. “I see Vinyl told you about this spot, did she?”

The mention of Vinyl seemed to answer everypony’s unasked questions. A palpable ripple of discomfort ran through the whole group.

I blinked. “Vinyl didn’t-- we found it ourselves,” I said.

Octavia looked taken aback. “Well, the two of you really are twins, aren’t you?”

Applejack opened her mouth, no doubt to say something truly scathing based on the furrow in her brows.

“Mind if we join you?” Octavia asked.

I opened my mouth. Closed it again.

BonBon looked antsy. “We can find somewhere else. It’s no trouble.”

“No!” I blurted.

I could feel all of my friends’ eyes burning into the side of my head.

“No, don’t be silly!” I said, snorting in fake laughter. “That’s fine! Good, even!”

Lyra rolled her eyes.

Ditzy grinned. “Cool!”

The four ponies made themselves comfortable in their own little circle beside ours. Ditzy bumped into Fluttershy as she made herself comfortable, eliciting a look of outright discomfort from my friend.

All of my friends, in fact, seemed to be communicating thoughts to me via eye contact alone. It was like a psychic overload; too many messages bombarding my brain at once. All I could feel was eyes, staring at me, boring into me.

“Twi?”

Everypony under the tree swiveled to look at the latest arrival: poor Vinyl, laden with crepes.

“Ah, Vinyl!” Octavia said. “I was wondering when I’d see you again.”

Vinyl blinked. “Uh… hello.”

I stood up. “Let me help you with those!”

I rushed to Vinyl’s side, leaning in close as I took a few of the crepes out of Vinyl’s magical field.

“What’s happening?” Vinyl hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

“I don’t know!” I replied, just as quiet. “They all just came and sat down!”

“You know, we should all sit together!” Octavia suggested.

Vinyl and I looked at her. It was hard to tell if she was serious… was she serious?

“Uh…” Vinyl’s mouth hung open. “Why?”

Octavia laughed haughtily. “Oh, Vinyl. You’re here with the Princess of Friendship, for goodness’ sake. Don’t you think we ought to be friendly?”

I could see the gears of Vinyl’s mind grinding against one another, trying desperately to think of a response. Or even just determine the validity of the statement. She was utterly stuck, however.

So was I. But I talked anyway.

“Sure!” I said.

“What?!” Vinyl hissed.

“Oh, how lovely!” Octavia said, beaming.

Octavia and her crew got to their hooves and began to sprinkle themselves into our group. Lyra did so with a bored, somewhat annoyed expression, plopping onto the grass beside Rainbow and Applejack. Octavia chose her spot carefully, easing herself down into the grass between Rarity and my own position.

BonBon and Ditzy looked wholly uncomfortable with the idea, and chose to sit together near Fluttershy, likely because she appeared to be the least confrontational.

I laughed. I didn’t mean to laugh, but I did. I slapped a hoof over my mouth and returned to reviewing the crepes.

Vinyl and myself passed out breakfast silently.

Everypony was silent. Just exchanging weird looks and half-smiles, not knowing what to do or how to respond.

At last, Rainbow coughed. “So… who are you guys?”

“Us?” Ditzy asked. “W-we’re, uh… we’re Vinyl’s friends.”

Rainbow nodded. “Cool.”

Vinyl cleared her throat. “That’s, uh, BonBon, Lyra, Ditzy, and Oc-Octavia.”

“Oh,” Rainbow said. Her tone and the look on her face said everything else she was thinking.

Applejack nudged her.

Rainbow’s eyes went wide, and she swallowed hard.

Was this a normal music festival thing? Soul-sucking awkwardness and long silences? Was this just another thing I had missed out on being a shut-in?

Boy… I was starting to think maybe I’d been living life right back then.

“We shouldn’t have intruded,” BonBon said, getting to her hooves. “Sorry. We just wanted to congratulate Vinyl.”

Vinyl looked up. “Thanks, guys.” She smiled a little.

BonBon smiled back, then looked to Lyra. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Vinyl looked down at her hooves. It wasn’t hard to see what she was thinking.

I had done this. I had put her in a fight between her old friends and her new ones-- no, worse, a fight between old marefriends and new marefriends.

I don’t really know which is worst, to be honest.

And-- gosh, that meant she was doing this for me? Choosing me? Staying silent, letting her friends walk away… for me?

It was like the Princess part of my brain flicked on.

Nopony was giving up friendships on my watch.

“Wait!” I said, standing up quickly. BonBon looked over at me. “Don’t go. We’re all here for the same thing, right?”

Everypony gave me blank looks.

“Uh… w-we can get along for a few days,” I continued. “It’s a festival. Let’s just be friends for a while, okay?”

More blank looks.

I sighed. “Did anypony look at the performance schedule? We were having some trouble finding stuff we wanted to see.”

Ditzy looked up at me. “Oh! There’s an Acapella group performing at the Margarita Stage in about an hour. We could all go see them together?” The sentence slipped out hesitatingly, sounding more like a question than anything.

Rainbow Dash and Lyra rolled their eyes. Then, in unison: “I hate Acapella.”

The two of them looked at each other as if they were twins separated at birth. This elicited some light laughter from the group.

Rarity clucked her tongue. “Well, I love Acapella.”

“Ooh! Me too!” Fluttershy agreed.

Ditzy smiled. “Awesome!”

“Does Margarita Stage mean they’ll be serving margarita nearby, by any chance?” Rarity muttered.

BonBon laughed. “If you want alcohol, we should head down to the beer garden.”

“Beer garden?!” Rainbow repeated. “Oh, me and AJ are so there.”

I watched carefully from the sidelines, waiting for the tension to rear its ugly head once again. But, amazingly, the conversation rolled along easily from there. Two very different groups of ponies coming together over music… how funny.

Vinyl nudged me gently.

I looked over at her. “What is it?”

Vinyl smiled softly. “Thanks, Twi.”

I smiled back. “Hey. It’s my job, y’know.”

Vinyl chuckled to herself, then shoved over onto her side and pressed into mine. I wrapped my wing around her and squeezed gently.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Lyra, and BonBon had become quite the drunken foursome, stumbling about and singing songs at the top of their lungs. This, of course, bothered nopony, since music and alcohol were basically the only overriding theme to any of this.

It turned out the Ditzy had a very similar taste in music to Rarity and Fluttershy, and the three of them spent the day hopping from stage to stage.

Pinkie Pie was totally in her element, and just ran about on her own, bringing joy and shock to everypony in attendance.

Vinyl and I, of course, were stuck together like glue. Not just because I didn’t want to find myself alone at an event like this… Vinyl’s mood had improved tenfold since the moment in the garden. She was energetic, unconcerned, just blissfully happy to be here. She waved to so many ponies I lost count. She high-hooved every one of her friends as we happened to pass them in the crowds.

The energy was contagious. I felt myself becoming more and more caught up in the festival’s atmosphere, felt my inhibitions slipping away… the music. The laughter. The friendship. The love. It just fills you up, doesn’t it?

Of course, there’s a downside to the energy.

Another thing about music festivals: they wipe you out. Totally and completely

“Come on, push!” Vinyl encouraged me, laughing wildly.

I moaned. “I can’t… these doors are gigantic…”

“Use your magic, Twi!” Her laughter continued. I would have called it drunken laughter, but I knew she hadn’t had a drop.

“No,” I whined. “Too much effort…”

Vinyl at last managed to come to my side, helping me open the massive door into the hotel lobby.

I sighed loudly. “Thank you.”

“No problem, Princess,” Vinyl replied, the echoes of laughter still on her tongue.

“Ugh. I need a shower,” I said. “Do I smell?”

Vinyl stretched up to bury her snout in my mane, breathing deeply. “Like a fresh summer’s day.”

I giggled and waved her away.

We managed to make it to the elevator, ricocheting off one another like pool balls the whole way. We reached for the button at the same moment, then both drew away giggling, then both went for it a second time.

The ghost of Rarity floated above us, commanding us to get a room.

“Well?” Vinyl asked.

“Well, what?”

“Did you like it?” she asked. She was kind of serious.

I smiled. “I loved it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not tired, though.”

Vinyl laughed in agreement. “If you’re not tired, you’re not doing it right!”

The elevator pinged, and the doors eased open. Vinyl and I piled in eagerly.

I slumped against the wall. “Are we gonna have to fight over who gets the shower first?” I asked.

“Maybe,” Vinyl said. “But there is an easy solution.”

I rolled my eyes, though it did nothing to disguise my blush.

Vinyl arched her eyebrows. “I’m not hearing a no…”

“Well!” I said, not intending to finish the thought.

Vinyl chuckled to herself, then nuzzled against my neck.

The elevator came to a gentle stop on our floor, and the doors slid open once again. Our room was straight ahead down the hall.

There was a familiar earth pony waiting outside our door.

Vinyl sighed. “That’s our door, isn’t it?”

I squinted. “No, it can’t be.”

Octavia turned to look at us. Her eyes met Vinyl’s. A look of sadness passed over her face.

“Shit.” Vinyl caught the elevator door with her hoof just as it was starting to close. “I’m sorry, Twi, I--”

“Don’t be,” I said.

Vinyl nodded at me, and walked down the hall.

I hung back as far as I could. The beginning of their conversation was a mystery to me, as would most of it continue to be. It was only as I walked down the hall towards my marefriend and her ex that I realized Octavia had disappeared completely after the garden. She hadn’t paired up with anypony to enjoy the festival. I hadn’t even spotted her in a crowd.

The thought put a pit in my stomach.

“You abandoned me.” Octavia’s voice was entirely calm and even, to the point of it being utterly terrifying. “All day. You took my friends and left me alone. This was meant to be my triumph, too, Vinyl.”

“You think I did that on purpose?” Vinyl asked. “Come on, Tavi! I’m doing everything I can, here!”

“I don’t want them seeing you anymore.”

“What?!”

Octavia set her jaw. “You chose Twilight, didn’t you? Spend time with her. You don’t need us.”

It was like being shot through the heart. “Hey, I--”

Vinyl turned to me. “Twilight, you didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t apologize to her.”

“I--” I took a deep breath in, let it out. “I think you two need to hash things out.”

Octavia scowled at me. “‘Hash’ what out, exactly?”

“Come on, guys,” I said. “You clearly have a lot to work out. It doesn’t take a Princess to see that.”

Vinyl stole a glance at Octavia, then looked back at me. “I can’t do that to you.”

“Well, then do it for me,” I said.

Vinyl stared at me for a long time. It was clear that she had never been trusted the way I trusted her… the idea of being encouraged to speak to an ex was so foreign that she thought she was going mad.

But she smiled. Tersely. Sadly. “Alright.”

“Excuse me?” Octavia said.

“Come on, Tavi,” Vinyl said, unlocking the hotel room door. “Let’s have it out.”

Octavia allowed herself to be led into the hotel room, and the door clicked shut behind. I could hear their muffled voices start to talk.

The weight on my chest got a little lighter.

Pinkie was staying next door, right? I could hang with her for a while. That might be nice.

I walked over to the door beside us and knocked politely. “Pinkie?”

There was no answer. Not even a snore.

She was probably still about gallivanting about at the festival, I thought. Things hadn’t totally shut down, after all-- there were some strange musical acts left to come, and plenty of food and drink still being served.

I found a nice spot of wall between my room and Pinkie’s, and slumped down against it.

“You never got angry!” Vinyl was saying. “How could you not be angry?”

“You were never angry, either.”

“Because you weren’t angry!”

I closed my eyes and rolled my head back against the wall. This could very well be a long night.

If I had any idea where my other friends were staying, I might have gone to look for them. If I knew they were still out and about, I might have gone down to the lobby and waited to catch them coming back.

But I had no idea.

And the carpet was pretty soft.

And you never really spend time in hotel hallways. Somepony should.

I stayed here for a quite a while. I ran my hooves in circles over the carpet until they lost feeling. I rolled my head back and forth against the wall until my mane was imprinted in it. I hummed some songs to myself.

Then, as if the night couldn’t get any worse…

“Hey.”

My eyes snapped open. “Huh?” Had I been asleep?

I looked to my left. Nopony there.

“Over here,” the voice said.

I looked to my right.

“Oh, fuck,” I muttered burying my face in my hooves.

“Very flattering,” Flash said. “What are you doing in the hallway, Princess?”

“Please go away,” I said.

Flash laughed. “Did you forget your keycard? ‘Cause I can take you down to the lobby to get a new one.”

“No,” I said.

“Do you feel sick?” Flash asked. He came and sat next to me.

“No. I’m fine,” I said.

“Well, then what’s going on here?” Flash asked. “Come on. I’m a royal guard. It’s my job.”

I scoffed. “Sure.”

“Do you have anything better to do?” Flash asked.

I opened my mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again.

“You look like a fish.”

“Thanks a lot!” I blurted.

Flash seemed shocked.

I sighed. “It’s just a long story,” I said.

“I can do long stories,” Flash said. “I’ve got the time.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be defending the honor of Countess Coloratura?”

“Not while she’s asleep, you weirdo.”

I grumbled something to myself.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Okay.” Flash sat back against the wall, much in the way I had a moment ago. He closed his eyes. He started humming to himself.

I stared at him. Who did he think he was? Why did he think that, after years of masterfully pretending we had never dated, now was a good time to talk to me? Did I look accessible? Did I look ready to talk?

“What are you still doing here?” I asked.

Flash shrugged, but did not open his eyes. “Free hallway.”

I growled to myself, then sat back against the wall, folding my forelegs across my chest.

“Why does Lyra’s opinion matter?” Vinyl asked.

“She’s my friend!” Octavia replied.

“She’s my friend, too!” Vinyl argued back.

Flash cracked an eye open. “Does… that have something to do with you being in the hallway?”

I set my jaw. “None of your business, Flash.”

“Alright. Just figured, y’know, if it was… you might need somepony to talk to about it.”

I was ready to really give it to him, but… he was kinda right.

Plus, what kind of hypocrite would I be for shutting him out? An eye for an eye, right? An ex for an ex?

“My marefriend is in there,” I said.

“Oh?”

I nodded. “She’s… trying to make up with one of her exes.”

Flash sat up straight. “Interesting. Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” I said. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Flash looked me up and down, taking in the wings, the horn, the whole Princess vibe. “Hm. Right.”

“And I don’t know where my friends are,” I said. “So I’m just waiting around.”

“Gee. Sounds fun.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Which one is your marefriend?” Flash asked.

I sighed. “Vinyl.”

Flash nodded.

“If it wasn’t Twilight, it would’ve been somepony else!” Octavia shouted.

“Right back attcha, Tavi!”

I cringed.

“Sounds complicated,” Flash commented astutely.

I scoffed. “No shit.”

“You’ll be okay, though,” Flash said. “You’re tough.”

I shook my head. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about Vinyl.”

Flash looked over his shoulder at the wall, as if he would catch a glimpse of Vinyl through it. “I dunno. She seems pretty independent to me.”

“I guess so,” I said. “She’s just… she’s not really vulnerable. I’m worried that she won’t tell me if she’s hurting, y’know?”

Flash nodded. “Of course. I can see where that would be worrying.”

I glanced sidelong at him. “Yeah, well. Like I said, not really your business.”

“Oh, but, isn’t it?” Flash said.

I whipped my head over to look at him. He was… leaning in towards me. His eyes were sort of half-lidded, his lips puckered ever so slightly. Somehow, the picture didn’t register fully.

“Wh-what?” I stuttered, leaning away from him.

“You wanna go back to my room?” Flash Asked softly.

“What?!” I shrieked, rocketing to my hooves.

Flash looked surprised, frozen in place where he had been leaning in to kiss me. “Was this not… did I misread something?”

“Yes!” I shouted, stomping my hoof.

Flash jumped a bit when I did. “Oh.”

“What is wrong with you?” I asked exasperatedly.

“Well!” Flash got to his hooves, too. “Why else would you be trying to get your marefriend and her ex to make up?”

I flared my wings open. “Because I’m the Princess of Friendship, asshole!”

Flash put a hoof on his chest very delicately, looking only moderately offended. “Wow. That seems uncalled for.” He shook his head slightly. “Why would you wanna stay with somepony who needs that much friendship help, anyway? Wouldn’t you rather have somepony who doesn’t put you to work?”

“She didn’t put me to work!” I argued.

“Seems like she did,” Flash said. “Why else would you do it?”

“Because!” I shouted.

Flash gave me a look, indicating that he clearly didn’t understand.

“I-- I love her, you idiot!” I shouted.

Flash went completely mute, staring at me blankly.

Oh my gosh.

Had I said that before? Had I said I loved her?

Flash was still staring at me. No… not at me. Past me.

Shit.

I whirled about-- there stood Vinyl and Octavia, looking equally surprised as Flash and myself.

Octavia opened her mouth, and said, haltingly, “We heard shouting, so we… we came…”

Vinyl was only looking at me. “Did you say… you loved me?”

I swallowed. “I…”

Octavia was staring at me, too. But not the way I thought she would. Just a slight cock of the head. More curiosity than anything, I think. Perhaps concern.

Maybe it was just me, but there was something different there. The spark between them had changed in hue.

“Twilight?” Vinyl murmured.

“Yes,” I said.

Vinyl breathed out slowly. “Did you mean it?”

I blinked. “Yes.”

Vinyl took a few slow steps forward, then ran to me. She embraced me tightly, burying her face in my neck. “I love you, too.”

I hugged Vinyl back, as tightly as I could. I felt like crying. And laughing.

Octavia smiled. A little sad. But a little happy, too.

Her friend had found love, after all.

What’s not to be happy about?

One more thing happened at the festival. I know this chapter of our relationship is getting a little long in the tooth, but this last bit is important.

Fast forward to Saturday night. The whole lot of us--Octavia included--had spent the day together. It had been a little awkward, a little clumsy. But we’d traded about, meeting and loving one another’s company. Even Lyra seemed to be warming up to me.

At long last, It was time.

Saturday night.

Vinyl and Octavia’s time to shine.

We all crowded to the front of the audience, chattering eagerly, more than a few of us literally jumping up and down in excitement.

The bluegrass band completed their set just as we reached the front.

“Ah, come on!” Applejack called from the back of the group. “No fair! Princesses oughta stay in the back!”

I looked over my shoulder at her. “It’s my marefriend, AJ!”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Hey, I’ll lift you up!” Rainbow suggested, already in the air and tucking her front hooves under Applejack’s legs.

“Oh, please, girls!” Rarity said. There was a funny cadence to her voice, as if she had carefully rehearsed these precise words. “We get it-- you’re in love!”

Pinkie stuffed both of her front hooves over her mouth to stifle laughter.

Applejack’s face broke into a gigantic grin, hanging there from her marefriend’s grasp. “It sure don’t seem like you get it, Rarity!”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, what will you do next?” Rarity asked, her face breaking open into a smile. “Propose?”

My heart stopped.

Pinkie looked as if she might explode.

Fluttershy was biting down on her lip, fighting back a smile.

I looked up at Rainbow Dash. She opened her mouth to respond to Rarity, but froze, and looked down at the mare in her hooves.

Applejack looked up at her marefriend, still grinning. “Would that be so crazy?”

Rainbow dropped her marefriend in surprise.

Applejack hit the ground with a loud sound of discomfort.

I hate to admit it, but I was already tearing up.

Applejack pushed up off the ground. She took her hat off her head, and held it over her heart. From the hat, she produced a ring on a long chain, and held it up for Rainbow to see. The way she looked up at Rainbow Dash said it all.

Rainbow landed on the ground, her eyes trained on Applejack.

“Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked. “Will you--”

“Yes!” Rainbow shouted, tackling Applejack to the ground.

The two of them stayed on the ground for a moment. Applejack slipped the necklace over her marefriend’s-- well, her fiance's head.

The rest of us couldn’t wait. We rushed in to lift them up, gathering the both of them in an enormous hug.

The crowd around us wasn’t paying attention, of course, but for that one moment, it felt like all of Canterlot was celebrating us.Like all of this energy, all of the warmth and love and friendship and happiness, it was all right here.

“Ladies and gentlecolts…”

The crowd cheered harder.

“DJ P0N-3!”

“Oh!” I looked up. “It’s starting! It’s starting!”

We stayed in our hug, watching as Vinyl strode out onto the stage with ease. She looked down at us, a momentary confusion dawning on her face.

Rainbow held up the necklace. The lights glinted off its charm.

Vinyl broke into an enormous grin, then grabbed the microphone. “This set goes out to the Elements of Harmony. I love every one of you.”

I laughed, though it came out more like a small sob.

As Vinyl began to play, hitting chords on her keyboard and spinning records with impressive coordination, the crowd burst into a thunderous applause.

I caught a glimpse of Octavia waiting backstage. Nopony was stomping harder than she was.

Author's Note

Whew
It's not perfect, but I had to get it posted before I ran out the night!
Hope this has been the catharsis you were waiting for :twilightsmile:

Wedding

The wedding was in late autumn.

By that time, a lot had changed.

I had reconnected with some old friends, and been able to relive my days as a student of Princess Celestia. Rarity had opened her boutique in Canterlot, fulfilling a long-held dream of hers. The cutie mark crusaders had, at last, earned their cutie marks. It turned out that Applejack actually knew Countess Coloratura. Like, personally.

Whew. Sometimes it’s hard to believe how strange my friends are.

One thing hadn’t changed, though: Rainbow Dash and Applejack were still very much in love.

It’s kinda funny. I think a lot of ponies thought that the pair was just too similar; that they could never, ever get along as a couple because they were just carbon copies of one another.

That’s what everypony around town said, anyway.

Which, of course, is totally wrong. Rainbow Dash and Applejack are individuals, and the more I saw of them as a couple, the more I saw how it worked; Rainbow’s energy would fuel Applejack, Applejack’s stubbornness would cool Rainbow. Applejack’s honesty was always backed by Rainbow’s undying loyalty. Rainbow’s loyalty was rewarded with Applejack’s true love. Rainbow was the rain which fed Applejack’s soil, and Applejack was the lush treeptops that kept Rainbow’s skies clear.

They were perfect for each other.

Vinyl and I were starting to think we might be perfect for one another, too. She brought back the art to my magic, and I gave her the critical gaze her music needed to flourish. The hours we whiled away, locked in the castle, experimenting wildly, singing at the top of our lungs…

It was magic.

I know I say that a lot. But it really was! It was as if I’d found the missing half of my soul in another pony, and we had at last been reunited, finally able to be everything we had been trying to be for years.

...What was I talking about?

Ah, yes. The wedding.

This wedding was huge. Huge in every way. Physically huge, because Applejack’s family could fill a minor-league hoofball stadium without much trouble. Emotionally huge, because-- well, because it was them! Applejack and Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie and Rarity had been erupting into tears at random intervals since the proposal, often requiring comfort from one or both of the soon-to-be-wedded mares.

And… mentally huge.

Because planning that wedding? Impossible.

I should know. Being famed for my organizational skills, I had been called in early to help. I dunno if you’ve ever tried to plan a wedding, but it is a nightmare.

Literally every kind of nightmare. Financial, organizational, familial… friendships would be tested, merely based upon where you sat them for dinner. Rifts would be torn in the delicate fabric of the Apple Family. Parents would be forced to interact.

Dates would be brought, unapproved.

There would be crashers.

There would be allergies.

There would be drunk friends and relatives stumbling about, without a filter.

So many variables. Enough to make my head spin faster than a carnival ride.

When my eyes started to glaze over and reflect the seating cards, Vinyl would pull me away from the table and say “Hey. At least you’ve got music handled!”

So it went today. The day before the big one.

Little things to be wrapped up. You know. I was hyperventilating when Vinyl pulled me off the seating arrangements.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Look at me.”

I focused on her eyes.

“Breathe in,” Vinyl said.

I did.

“And out.”

I did.

“Better?” Vinyl asked.

“A little…”

“Twi, you totally got this!” Vinyl said smiling warmly. “You’ve done way harder stuff. I think you can handle this one.”

I sighed. “And, if I can’t, at least we’ll have good music.”

“You betcha,” Vinyl said with a wink.

It had all come together so flawlessly: Octavia and the rest of her quartet would play them down the aisle, Rara was available to sing for their first dance, and Vinyl had pulled together some friends to help DJ the rest.

She'd never miss spending the evening with me, after all.

Vinyl rubbed my back gently. "Wanna take a break?"

"I can't," I said. "This really needs to be finalized. If I could only figure out what to do with Apple Dumpling and Apple Fritter…"

Vinyl's brows furrowed. "What needs to be done with them, exactly?"

I chuckled. "They're twins. They hate each other, and I don't know where to seat them for the dinner."

Vinyl scoffed. "Look, you really think that finding the right seating will stop two ponies who hate each other from getting riled up?"

"Uh… yes?"

Vinyl shook her head. "There's no point. This is a wedding, Twi. Time to air age-old grievances and generally be difficult."

"How romantic," I muttered.

"It is romantic!" Vinyl said. "Nothing more romantic than watching your families melt down before your very eyes. Gives you a great list of things not to do right off the bat."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm guessing your family gatherings leave something to be desired?"

"I'm a born black sheep, Twilight," Vinyl said. She clapped me once on the shoulder. "I cause fights I have no business being a part of."

"Wow, maybe I'd better put you at the troublemaker table," I said, giggling.

Vinyl stretched up to kiss my jaw. "As long as my princess is at the troublemaker table, too."

I giggled some more, and returned Vinyl's kiss, lingering a little longer than she had.

Vin used her magic to pull my chin down, very gently, and kiss me on the lips. My eyes fluttered shut, and I allowed her to win this one.

When she broke the kiss, Vinyl still stared up at me expectantly.

"Stop distracting me!" I scolded.

"Stop being so distracting," Vinyl retorted.

I scoffed. "Flirt."

Vin flashed me an enormous, cheesy grin, but backed off a bit.

I returned my focus to the seating arrangements. Perhaps Vinyl was right; avoiding drama at a wedding was a futile endeavor.

Dumpling and Fritter were seated together. But off to the side. Just in case.

"Did you try on your bridesmaid dress yet?" Vinyl asked.

"Yep!" I answered cheerfully, fastening Dumpling and Fritter to the board.

Vin pouted. "And I didn't get to see you in it because…?"

"You'll see me in it tomorrow, Vi."

"What if I wanted to see it today," Vinyl responded.

"What are you going to wear?" I asked.

"Don't change the subject."

"I'm serious," I said, levitating the seating board over against the wall. "I haven't seen you try anything on. Do you have something packed?"

"A bowtie," Vinyl said.

I whipped my head around to look at her. "That's it?"

Vinyl shrugged. "Yeah. Why, should I be wearing more?"

I sighed. "I… guess not. I just thought you'd want to wear more. You don't always get chances to dress up like this."

"Well, one day I'll get married, and I'll dress up then," Vinyl said simply.

My heart fluttered.

We hadn't talked about it yet. We'd been dating for nearly a year, but it had been a disjointed year. My busy and unpredictable schedule meant that Vinyl and I could go long stretches without seeing one another at all.

All of this is to say that… we weren't ready?

But sometimes I felt ready.

And it was kinda scary, if I'm honest. Like standing at the top of a cliff, ready to jump, hoping that safety awaited you at the bottom. The longer we were together, the shorter the cliff became. But it was still a leap of faith.

"Shouldn't we be getting on the road soon?" Vinyl asked. "I thought we were supposed to set up tonight."

"Shoot! What time is it?" I asked, looking around frantically for a clock.

"It's about three in the afternoon, Twi," Vinyl replied.

"Yikes!" I started gathering up wedding-planner materials as fast as I could. "We should have left fifteen minutes ago!"

Vinyl scrambled to her hooves, also gathering as much as she could carry, and followed me out to the carriage I had rented.

The two of us had mastered moving in sync. We rotated around one another in the kitchen with effortless ease, tangled around one another in my study room as if we were meant to be there together. It was love without anxiety, now. Love without fear or complication. Just easy.

In just two trips, we were ready to leave.

I took a last look at the castle before we left. When we returned, two of the Elements would be married.

Married.

I wondered idly how the Tree of Harmony might feel about that.

"Twi?" Vinyl called. "You ready?"

I sighed. "Yep!"

Applejack and Rainbow Dash had had a long deliberation over the venue.

At first, Rainbow had been disappointed that she couldn't get married in Cloudsdale, as she had apparently always dreamed. I know-- it's hard to picture Rainbow daydreaming about her wedding.

Applejack, of course, had then felt guilty offering Sweet Apple Acres, as she felt it was unfair that she got to marry at her home, when Rainbow's home wasn't even an option.

Rainbow had then relented, announcing to all the world that she didn't care where she got married.

Applejack, not wanting to be shown the more wedding-obsessed of the pair, had also stated that she did not care about the venue.

This sort of thing went on for a month and a half, and most of us lost track of it. Eventually, through some unseen miracle, the two of them agreed on Rainbow Falls. It was booked later that day.

Getting to Rainbow Falls was slightly easier than getting to Cloudsdale (in that it didn't require being a pegasus), but significantly more difficult than simply holding it in Ponyville, as we had all suggested.

A perfect compromise.

Vinyl and I arrived at around eight o'clock that night. There was a hotel nearby (considerably less fancy than the one in Canterlot, but not terrible) where everypony--and I mean everypony--was staying.

Friends. Family. Plus-ones. A great big cocktail of insanity just waiting to break loose.

"Hey! It's Twilight!" shouted a familiar voice.

I kicked off the carriage's harness. "Scootaloo? Is that you?"

There they were: the cutie mark crusaders, plus Babs Seed, waving enthusiastically from the hotel's wrap-around porch.

"Hiya, Twilight!" Applebloom shouted.

I giggled. "Hi, girls!"

"Okay-- remind me how this works again?" Vinyl asked, popping open the back of the carriage. "With the bridesmaids?"

I sighed. "Applebloom is Applejack's maid of honor."

"Right. Sisters."

"Mm-hm," I agreed. "And Scootaloo is Rainbow Dash's maid of honor."

"But… they're not sister's?" Vinyl asked.

"Right."

"What are they, cousins?" Vinyl levitated out two bags of supplies, passing them off to me as she spoke. "Uh… babysitter and… baby?"

I laughed. "They're not related."

"So, why--"

"It's hard to explain," I said.

"Magic of friendship?" Vinyl asked.

I nodded. "Magic of friendship."

Saying "magic of friendship" had developed into a sort of shorthoof for certain parts of my life. A lot of strange things happen when you're the ponification of friendship itself. Saying that something was due to "the magic of friendship" was how we agreed that, one, it was a long story, and, two, the long story likely would make very little sense when retold, anyway.

Vinyl smirked at me as she closed the carriage. “And… the rest?”

“Joint bridesmaids,” I explained. “Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and myself.”

“Damn. The Princess of Friendship, only a bridesmaid,” Vinyl commented sarcastically, shaking her head.

“And it’s a title I wear with pride,” I said, holding my head high.

We walked up to the hotel side by side, rails intermingling with each little swish.

Vin opened the door and held it for me. I bowed my head to her and trotted inside.

The hotel was quaint. Kinda of kitschy. Like it was doing everything possible to scream "the hotel for vacations and vacations only". No business meetings were going to be touching that place. Definitely no conventions.

The lobby consisted of a few large couches in a circle around a massive fireplace. Everything was in shades of red and brown, and nothing of a brighter hue than Applejack's coat. The walls were covered in little “natural” decorations, like mounted antlers scavenged from the nearby woods, and plumes of feathers set onto mahogany boards. There were a few paintings, but the kind that you forgot the moment you looked away.

It was a little more like a ski lodge than I had anticipated.

Of course, the couches in the lobby were filled with familiar faces. Not my closest friends (as they were probably all prepping for the main event), but the friends-of-friends that had come to be like distant cousins of mine.

Soarin and Spitfire sat beside one another. Big Mac and Applejack’s cousin, Sunflower, seemed to be having a good time catching up. Rara was there, too, chatting casually with Gilda the griffin, who seemed totally enraptured. Blossomforth, Flitter, Cloudkicker, and Cloudchaser were meeting Cherry Jubilee and donut Joe.

It was almost hard to reconcile the image. So many different creatures, all coming together because Rainbow Dash and Applejack were getting married.

Married!

“Hey, there you are!” Applejack shouted. “Thank Celestia, I thought you’d gotten lost!”

I looked up. Applejack was standing at the top of the stairs, sort of peering around a pillar at me.

“Are you wearing your dress?” I asked.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Rarity’s doing some last-minute alterations. I told her it was fine, but… well. You know Rarity.”

I chuckled.

“The crew is down at the event hall setting up,” Applejack explained. “They’ve been waiting for you.”

I smiled. “I’ll get right over.”

“Applejack!” Rarity’s scolding voice could be heard from here, though she seemed to be at the top of the stairs. “Get back here! I swear, it’s like you want to trip on your way down the aisle.”

Applejack gave me another look, like she wanted to be annoyed but just couldn’t find it in herself to do so. She quickly disappeared back upstairs.

I turned to Vinyl. “Do you think you could get us checked in?”

Vinyl snapped to attention and feigned a salute. “Say no more, princess. Get out there and make this wedding happen.”

I saluted her back. “Aye-aye, captain.”

Vinyl snickered. “Princesses don’t salute back, dummy.”

“Well, this one does!” I said, smiling brilliantly in the face of Vinyl’s teasing. “Come by when you’re done, alright?”

“I will.”

I left Vinyl with a kiss on the cheek, and trotted back out the front of the hotel.

My wedding-planning materials were still in the carriage, and so I scooped up what I could carry and began to trot down the dirt path to the event hall.

The hall was situated at the base of one of the smaller Rainbow Falls tributaries, so that the entire space was constantly bathed in its chromatic glow. I actually thought the whole thing was rather cheesy, but Rainbow and Applejack seemed to agree that it was nice, so I’d kept my mouth shut. I guess things just look different when you’re getting married, don’t they?

Even from a few strides away, I could hear Pinkie’s wild babbling, back by the deeper tones of none other than Discord, also babbling.

Apparently, Rainbow and Applejack’s idea of wedding planners was Pinkie PIe, Fluttershy, Discord, and Princess Cadance.

Had I known this earlier, I may have brought more supplies.

Cadance was quietly hanging some silk-and-flower garland along the wall. She seemed to be trying to blissfully ignore the other three.

“I just think it’s a little bland is all,” Discord complained, crossing his arms. “Don’t you think Rainbow Dash and Applejack would prefer something a little more exciting? Perhaps a flock of eagles?”

“No eagles!” Fluttershy said, stomping her hoof.

Pinkie was closely examining the cage of doves on a nearby table. “I dunno, Discord. I thought doves were pretty traditional. Cadance?”

Cadance looked slowly over her shoulder. “Doves.”

“There,” Fluttershy said, sticking her tongue out at Discord.

Discord clucked his tongue. “Pardon me, but I never said that doves weren’t traditional. I merely suggested that Rainbow Dash and Applejack might be bored by doves. Eagles would more accurately reflect their personalities, don’t you think?”

“It’s not about reflecting personalities, Discord,” I muttered. “It’s just supposed to be pretty.”

All four of them turned to look at me. “Twilight!”

I smiled. “Hi, everypony! Let me guess: you’ve been missing the seating arrangement?”

Pinkie gasped. “How’d you know?”

Discord scoffed. “Because it was her job, of course.”

“Discord!” Fluttershy scolded. “Be nice!”

“I’ll show you to the cards, Twilight,” Cadance said, chuckling lightly. “They’re back this way.”

I glanced over at the other three, wondering if, perhaps, they ought to be supervised. Then again, I suppose Fluttershy would always be Discord’s supervision.

I trotted to the back of the room, following Cadance’s lead into a small closet.

She began to dig through a cardboard box of deliveries.

“It’s nice to see you,” I said. “It feels like it’s been a while.”

Cadance smiled. “It’s nice to see you, too! We’re really in our element, aren’t we?”

I cocked my head at her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you know. Love, Friendship,” Cadance said. She pulled out a tightly-bundled group of notecards. “It’s all here, in just a day. Aren’t you excited? I know I am.”

I laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited!”

Cadance giggled. “I knew you would be.”

The two of us exited the closet, and Cadance closed the door behind us.

I walked back over to the pile of things I’d pulled out of the carriage, rummaging about for the massive seating chart I’d only just finished.

Cadance came up behind me. “So… how are things with you and Vinyl?” she asked gleefully.

I paused in my rummaging, a bit thrown by the question. Nopony had really asked me that before, I guess. “Um… good? Why do you ask?”

Cadance hummed lightly. “Oh, you know. Weddings. They make you think.”

I blushed a little. “Speaking of, where’s Shining Armor? Shouldn’t he be helping us?”

Cadance scoffed. “I’ve already planned a wedding with Shining. I’m not exactly eager to do it again. You know, I’m convinced he’s partially colorblind? He kept insisting the blue things were purple, or brown things were red… it was impossible to choose decor with him.”

I laughed. “That sounds like Shining to me.”

Cadance laughed, too.

“Hello, girls!” Discord said, suddenly appearing between the two of us. “Need any help with the seating? I’m simply the best at following instructions…” He reached for the name cards.

Cadance smacked his paw away. “Not a chance, Discord. The last thing a wedding needs is more chaos.”

Discord slumped over dramatically. “Oh, what a pity. I suppose I will have to return to the decorations…”

“That’s it!” Fluttershy cried, stomping over to our sides. “Discord, you’re being a hindrance! EIther do what we ask, or go back up to the hotel!”

Discord looked hurt, but only momentarily. “Fine. I can see when I’m not wanted.”

In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Cadance breathed a sigh of relief. "Smoothly handled, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy beamed.

"Why was he here in the first place?" I asked.

Fluttershy sighed. "It was just an idea I had. Discord doesn't have very many creative outlets, since he can conjure up anything he wants… I guess it didn't really work."

Pinkie put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Oh, well. It was a nice thought, Fluttershy."

With Discord gone, things became much smoother. The four of us worked well together, although I have to admit having Rarity there might been helpful. All in all, Fluttershy's understatedness and Pinkie's outrageousness balanced out… with the keen guidance of Cadance and myself.

There was one thing Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been very strict about: this wasn't a "fancy" wedding. They wanted it to be put together by friends and family alone, built with love instead of money.

Again, sappier than I would've thought for the two of them.

Honestly, I thought they'd elope.

We worked diligently for about twenty minutes. Then Vinyl arrived.

"Hey, anything I can do to help?" she said.

I jumped. Vinyl was practically right on top of me, but I'd been too absorbed in the precise placement of a tablecloth to realize.

"Oh, gosh, you're here!" I chuckled lightly, putting a hoof to my chest in surprise. "Sorry, I'm just-- I'm a little frazzled!"

"Don't I know it," Vinyl said.

I managed to catch my breath from the scare. "Um… gee, I'm not sure what we have for you…"

I looked around the room. Fluttershy was fully focused on the flower arrangements. Cadance was decorating the walls and windows. Pinkie Pie was producing thoughtfully-composed collages from absolutely nowhere (her mane, maybe?) and placing them artfully throughout the room. And I was setting the tables.

No room for Vinyl.

"Do you have the, uh… music stuff?" I asked.

Vinyl shrugged. "The guys are bringing all the equipment in the morning. Are you sure I can't help with, like… place settings? Or flowers? I have kind of a green hoof."

"Um…" I surveyed the room again. Everypony was so focused on their tasks that they hadn't even noticed our conversation. "You know what would be nice? Could you just bring down your radio and play some music for us?"

Vinyl's face sort of melted a little. "Y-yeah. Sure. That's really what you want me to do?"

"I think we'd have a lot more fun with music!" I said. "Is that okay?"

Vinyl paused, then smiled. "Yeah. Of course, princess."

I watched her go.

Something felt… off.

My scientific mind kicked on.

Vinyl had spent plenty of time with my friends. It couldn't be that.

She and I were in good standing with our relationship. So it definitely wasn't that.

It was too early to propose… so it wasn't that.

What was different? What was different about the wedding? What made it different than game night, or the festival? Or any of the other dozens of times we'd spent to get her as a group?

Then, it clicked: she was the intruder.

She wasn't long-time friends with anypony else here. She hadn't become part of the family yet. She was an outsider, trying desperately to belong… but it wasn't a switch you could flick.

The cold stone of anxiety turned over in my stomach.

Cadance was right: this wedding was the perfect storm of love and friendship.

Where did Vinyl fit in all of that?

Author's Note

What's this? Another two-parter?

You didn't think I could do all of the wedding in one go, did you?

Xenial

I really like that word.

"Xenial".

It's not a word a lot of ponies know. And why would you need to know it, anyway? Its meaning is very specific. Few would ever be able to use it properly, and those few can find another way to express this feeling without much trouble.

But that's why I like it. The specificity. Not many words are that specific, you know? Maybe favillous. Or psithurism.

What does xenial mean?

It means hospitable. But it's more specific than that; it refers, very precisely, to the relationship between a host and their guest. It is the nicest you can be without breaking that barrier. The best an interpersonal relationship can be without becoming… close.

This was the only word I could think of to describe what Vinyl was to the rest of my friends. Or, at least what Vinyl felt like my friends thought of her.

It wasn't on purpose. It couldn't have been.

My friends were welcoming of Vinyl. But she wasn't one of us… she just couldn't be.

And that made her feel alienated.

Which made me feel like the world's worst marefriend.

Vinyl spent the night before the wedding following me around, like a lost puppy, trying to figure a way into the work I was doing. To her credit, she was very subtle about it. She diligently changed the CD in her radio to curate the perfect party-planning atmosphere. She followed me at a distance, attempting nothing more than polite conversation with myself and the others.

Cadance spoke excitedly with her for a while, as if interviewing her. She was more like a mom than a sister-in-law, just grilling my marefriend in an effort to "approve" her. I guess Cadance didn't really know what to do, exactly.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were warm and welcoming. But not too welcoming. They knew Vinyl, but it was clear that they didn't quite understand what she was doing here.

I did my best to stay positive. But the longer we worked, the more worried I grew that Vinyl would never mesh with everypony else. Could never.

By the time we made it back to our hotel room, the stone in my stomach had swelled to the size of a softball.

"Ugh," Vinyl said as she moved the comforter. "Does this whole bed smell like mothballs to you?"

I sniffed the air. "Just… hotel-y."

Vinyl made a face. "I'm not a big hotel pony. I've stayed in a lot, and they're all sort of… grimy."

"What about the Walhorse? You seemed to like that one," I commented snidely.

Vinyl scoffed. "That was not a hotel. That was like staying in the spare bedroom of a billionaire."

I laughed in agreement.

Vinyl snuggled under the covers with some trepidation, but it all seemed to vanish once she was actually laying down.

I scooted up next to her, wrapping a foreleg around her barrel.

"Hey, princess," she murmured. Her eyes were so wide as she started at me, taking in every but of my face.

I giggled. "Hey."

"Excited for tomorrow?"

I sighed. "I want to be. But I'm really nervous. You think everything looked okay? You didn't say much."

Vinyl looked a little caught by this comment. "Oh, yeah. Everything looked great. I'm just not much of a decorator is all."

"Hm."

I pulled Vinyl in close to me, poking my snout into my mane. Vinyl nuzzled my neck gently.

"You don't feel awkward, do you?" I asked.

Vinyl seemed to stiffen in my embrace. "Why would I feel awkward?"

Not wanting to say why, I just mumbled "I dunno."

Vinyl was quiet. Her hooves were folded up near her chest, and she started to shuffle them slightly.

I pulled back and looked at her. "You okay?"

"Oh, y'know. Just…" Vinyl tucked her snout down low. "Tired."

"Okay. You wanna go to sleep?"

She nodded. "Don't worry we can mess around tomorrow night."

"Vinyl!"

She chuckled, if sleepily. "Gotcha."

Vinyl rolled over and pressed her back into my chest. I pulled her into a gentle embrace with my foreleg. If I tilted my chin upwards the tiniest bit, I could put my snout in her mane.

Our back hooves tangled together. Vinyl always kicked her back legs slightly just as she was falling asleep. Often I would wait for this, as Vinyl had complained regularly about my snoring keeping her up.

I waited. She did not kick.

I waited, too. My grip around her barrel loosened.

Eventually, we fell asleep. But there's no way of knowing for certain how long that took.

Once again, Vinyl and I were woken by Pinkie's frantic pounding at the door.

Vinyl shot up, but did not fall out of the bed this time.

It was good to know that some things had improved.

"Wake up, Twilight! It's bridesmaid time!" she was shouting, or some variation thereupon, over and over into the door. "Let's go! Up and at 'em!"

I moaned softly into the pillow. "Not again…"

Vinyl brushed her bangs out of her face. "How is this the second time she's done this?"

I hung my head. "I'm coming, Pinkie!"

Vinyl looked at me expectantly.

"Why don't you try to catch a little more sleep?" I suggested, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

Vinyl put her hooves over her eyes. "Ugh, what if my alarm doesn't wake me up?"

I chuckled. "That's easy. I'll just send Pinkie back up."

Vinyl pulled down her lower lids with her hooves, casting me a long, lingering gaze. "Hilarious."

"Come in, Vi. Go back to sleep," I said, applying some gentle pressure to her shoulder. "I'll come get you in plenty of time, okay? Promise."

"Twilight?" Pinkie called, pounding rhythmically on the door a few more times. "Are you in there?"

Vinyl stood stubbornly against my hooves for a moment, then allowed herself to be lowered back into the bed. "Yeah, alright…"

I leaned over to give Vinyl a peck on the cheek as she turned away. Using my magic, I tugged the blankets back up over her shoulders.

The hotel room was pretty drafty, and I shivered as I trotted to the door.

I opened the door a crack. "Hey, Pinkie."

"There you are, sleepyhead!" Pinkie beamed at me. "Why aren't you in your dress?"

I blinked slowly. "Pinkie, I woke up a few seconds ago."

"Well, you'd better get moving!" Pinkie said. "It's time for the pre-wedding primp-n-chat!"

"You got it, Pinkie," I muttered, closing the door gently.

It's not that I wasn't excited. It's just that, moments after waking up, nothing seems as exciting as crawling back into bed. That, and… well, concerns about Vinyl fitting in were still looking large in my mind.

I loved her. I loved my friends.

I was starting to wonder if I could really do both.

The bridesmaid dresses that Rainbow and Applejack had selected were fairly plain. Rarity, of course, had thrown a fit when she saw their choice--out of all of her notebooks, they had to choose the option without any lace at all?--but had managed to work her usual magic and create something gorgeous.

My dress was a dark purple (a color Rarity chose to match her own mane) with a spray of yellow and orange flowers at the neckline. I checked it carefully in the mirror.

This dress would be in a lot of pictures, after all.

"Twilight!" Pinkie hissed from the other side of the door. "Are you done yet?"

I sighed and flashed one last smile to myself in the mirror. "Yep! I'm coming."

Pinkie Pie was vibrating anxiously outside the door. She was wearing her own purple dress, but her neckline was decorated with a cluster of blue and yellow bows. "So!"

I was taken aback by the sudden shouting. "Uh… so?"

"We flipped some coins, and you're with Rainbow Dash," Pinkie said.

I furrowed my brows. "You flipped coins?"

Pinkie sighed wistfully. "Rainbow Dash and Applejack couldn't decide who would walk them down the aisle… so we flipped some coins! You and Fluttershy are walking Rainbow dash, and me and Rarity and walking Applejack!"

I chuckled. "Very creative, girls."

"Rainbow's just down the hall thataway," Pinkie said, pointing down the hall to the right. "And you'd better get moving!"

"You got it, Pinkie," I said.

"I'll see you soon!"

I chuckled. "See you soon, Pinkie."

We parted ways. She went down to the left, and I went down to the right.

For a moment, I worried that I wouldn't be able to find Rainbow Dash's room. I turned to ask Pinkie for a room number, but quickly heard Rainbow's signature scream of joy.

I broke into a light canter in the direction of the sound.

Rainbow's door was propped open, ever so slightly. Through it, I could see the brilliant morning sunlight, illuminating the dust motes floating through the air.

I pushed the door open gently. "Knock, knock…"

Rainbow was standing on, fittingly, an apple crate. This was the first time I had seen her dress, I realized; it was a long, silky affair-- streamlined, one might say. Peeking out from under the train were a few layers of sheer, colorful fabric, imitating the colors of a rainbow.

Rainbow shuffled her hooves excitedly when she saw me. "Twilight!"

Fluttershy looked up, too, mid-stitch on Rainbow's train. Her bridesmaid dress was decorated around the neckline with blue and pink embroidery. "There you are! I need an extra hoof."

I came to Fluttershy's side and knelt down. "What happened?"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash got a bit too excited when she put her dress on," Fluttershy explained, as if recounting the actions of her new puppy. "It's just a little tear, but I'm afraid I'm no good with a needle and thread."

Rainbow Dash seemed to be in her own little world, for once oblivious to the teasing of others. Her mouth was moving minutely, yet rapidly, and making not a sound-- rehearsing her vows, I supposed.

"No problem, Fluttershy," I said, taking the needle from her with my magic. In just a few moments, the tear had vanished.

I looked up at the bride-to-be. "How're you doing, Rainbow?"

She looked down at me, pausing the recitation of her vows. Her eyes were huge and glittering. "I didn't think I'd be so excited-- but I am so excited!"

"How could you think you wouldn't be excited?" Fluttershy asked sweetly. "Weddings are just so wonderful! The music, the food, the expressions of love and commitment--"

"That's exactly why," Rainbow said. "It's just so cheesy, y'know? But it turns out it's not cheesy at all when you're the one getting married!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll remind you of that at our next wedding."

Rainbow blushed, knowing she would regret her moment of weakness. I winked at her, and she smiled back at me.

"Ugh. I like the dress and all, but I'm already excited to get out of it," Rainbow complained, rolling her shoulders. She suddenly looked guilty. "Is that bad?"

I laughed. "I'm sure your fiance is feeling just the same, Rainbow."

Rainbow's face broke open into a gigantic grin when I said so. "Gosh, in less than an hour I'm gonna be able to call her my wife… isn't that awesome? I always wanted a wife to talk about."

Fluttershy furrowed her brows. "Just to talk about?"

"Yeah, y'know, like an action hero," Rainbow said. She leapt into a powerful stance, her wings unfurled. "That's my wife! Stay away from my wife!"

I snickered. "You would find a way to make this about Dating Do."

Rainbow scoffed. "I never said Daring Do specifically. Just that it's totally something she would say if she had a wife. Ohmigosh!'

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chest at the sudden exclamation.

"What?!" I asked, looking for the source of Rainbow's shock.

"I'm gonna have more wives than Daring Do!" Rainbow informed us. "How cool is that? Your old pal Rainbow's got more game than Daring Do herself."

The three of us laughed together for a while, but the laughter faded away after a minute or two.

The quiet rushing of the falls filled the room, soothing as the summer rain. In the distance, a bird was singing a joyful song. I could have sworn I even heard Octavia and her quartet tuning up.

"Hey, guys?" Rainbow murmured.

"Yes?" Fluttershy responded.

"Things aren't gonna change too much, are they?" Rainbow said. She was looking down at her hooves, picture perfect in the filtered sunlight. "I just… I want us all to still be friends. Like always."

"Oh, Rainbow, of course we'll still be friends," I said.

"It won't be weird?" Rainbow asked. Her ears were pinned to her head.

"Never!" Fluttershy said. She rushed in to embrace Rainbow.

I joined her.

We were probably all crying at least a little. To be honest, I'd been crying a little pretty much constantly since we got here.

While we stood there, cuddling Rainbow Dash in silent congratulations, there was a quiet knock at the door.

We drew apart a little and looked towards the face peeking in at us.

"Aw, you girls having a moment?" Discord said with a smarmy grin. "I can come back later."

"What is it, Discord?" Fluttershy asked.

Discord sighed deeply and folded his arms. "Oh, nothing much. It's just that the wedding is set to begin any moment. You won't be late, will you?"

I knew Rainbow was happy, because she didn't even make time to say something snarky to Discord.

Rainbow leapt off the apple crate and sprinted out the door, a streak of rainbow-tinted light trailing behind her.

"Oh! I'd better grab Vinyl," I said, making for the door.

"Don't be absurd, Twilight!" Discord exclaimed. "I'll fetch your fetching beau."

"Uh…" I looked Discord up and down, remembering the myriad of ways moments just like this had gone wrong.

"Come on, guys!" Rainbow called from the hallway.

Fluttershy put a hoof on my shoulder. "Let Discord get her. I'm sure it'll be just fine." She turned her gaze to Discord, glaring fiercely. "Right, Discord?"

Discord looked bored, if nothing else. "Whatever you say, Fluttershy."

He vanished with a snap of his claws.

I gave Fluttershy a worried look, and she merely shook her head knowingly.

We galloped together out into the hall, finding Rainbow Dash all but jogging in place. "Let's go!"

"Slow down, or you'll have another tear!" Fluttershy warned, though she was laughing to herself.

"I can't!" Rainbow said, beaming at us. "Too excited!"

Rainbow took off at a faster-than-average trot, and Fluttershy and I struggled to keep pace with her.

Once we were out of the hotel and in the morning sunlight, everything became simultaneously real and fantasy.

The ceremony itself was set to be held outdoors, an easy decision for the blushing brides. Back in Ponyville, it would have been cold. But here, surrounded by mist and in direct sunlight, it was like a perfect spring day. Just after the rain… the smell of petrichor and flowers strong in everypony's noses.

There were many, many wooden folding chairs set up in rows just at the bottom of the hill. On one side, Applejack was accompanied by her sister, her brother, and two of her closest friends. Pinkie seemed to spot us from all the way up here, waving wildly.

On the other side, awaiting us very anxiously, was Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle was in position at the start of the aisle, holding a basket of flower petals.

Octavia saw us approaching, and her quartet began to play. Not the traditional wedding march, of course-- this was something that had been carefully chosen. It was little and airy, heavy on the fiddle. The sound of laughing over a family photo album in your attic, or perhaps the soundtrack for a gleeful flight through cotton-candy clouds.

A sudden explosion of magic within the seats, and Discord appeared. Then, again, disappearing and reappearing a few rows back. In his initial landing position was a very dazed and confused Vinyl Scratch.

I chuckled to myself, just imagining how that conversation must have gone.

"You ready?" I asked Rainbow, nudging her gently.

Rainbow took a deep breath, then let it out. "I was born ready."

We started our walk down the hill, listening only to the light and celebratory music of Octavia's quartet.

As we grew closer, I was finally able to get a look at Applejack's dress. It evoked the "southern belle" aesthetic quite cohesively, but without sacrificing Applejack's more masculine side. Puffed sleeves, a full skirt, and a bow at her back… but all of it tailored to show off her broad shoulders, and her dappled coat. She looked just as happy as Rainbow Dash, in her own Applejack way.

When we at last reached the aisle, Sweetie Belle set off at a skip, sprinkling flower petals as if she were born to do so.

Applejack went first, led by Applebloom, tailed by Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

Scootaloo looked up at us expectantly. I nodded for her to start down the aisle.

She set off at a skittering trot, her wings propelling her forward like a hummingbird.

The walk felt shorter than it was. Before we knew it, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were standing before Princess Cadance.

The music ended softly, gently.

"Mares and gentlecolts," Cadance announced, her voice clear and strong. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union…"

My gaze drifted into the crowd, as Cadance spoke to them. Once again, the familiar faces and friends and family alike stared back at me… and then, shunted off to the side, Vinyl and her old friends.

Not that they didn't look happy, of course.

But it still made my stomach go cold.

"Applejack and Rainbow Dash have prepared their own vows," Cadance said. "A romantic and deeply personal gesture, which they will now share with all of you. If you would?"

"I-I'll go first," Applejack said. She cleared her throat and locked eyes with Rainbow Dash, a light shade of blush creeping over her cheeks. "I'm not the world's greatest public speaker, that's for sure. But I always speak the truth. And so, Rainbow Dash, I hope you know just how deeply I mean it when I say that I love you. And that I intend to spend the rest of my life with you."

Pinkie Pie sniffled loudly, earning a playfully glare from Rainbow Dash.

"If you'll have me, that is," Applejack added hastily.

Rainbow laughed tearfully and nodded.

Cadance looked over at her. "Rainbow? Do you have your vows prepared?"

Rainbow laughed again. "Uh… k-kinda." Rainbow closed her eyes for a moment, as if retrieving the memory, and then looked at Applejack. "You really stole my opening line there, AJ. I suck with words, too, and I did a lot of research trying to write something really good."

Applejack looked to me for confirmation. I nodded.

"Anyway, I found out that the word 'true' is actually a synonym for 'honest' and 'loyal'. So, when I say that my love for you is true, I mean that it is both honest and loyal," Rainbow said, a little smile teasing at her lips. "I hope that's not too sappy."

Applejack chuckled, a deep and rich sound. "Just sappy enough, RD."

Cadance looked to Sweetie Belle. "Sweetie? The rings, please?"

Sweetie Belle quickly traded her basket for a well-stashed pillow, upon which rested two simple necklace chains, each holding a gold wedding band.

Cadance lifted the necklaces with her magic. Rainbow Dash took one, and placed it over Applejack's bowed head. Applejack returned the favor.

"With these rings," Cadance said, "we celebrate the union of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. We celebrate their joy, their love, and their trust. You may kiss the bride."

When Rainbow and Applejack kissed, the falls seemed to glow that tiny bit brighter.

The crowd erupted in stomping and hollering, but the newlyweds couldn't have cared less. They were only looking at each other, grinning like fiends.

I cast a glance at Vinyl, just in time to see her wipe away a tear.

The reception was just as wild as you'd imagine. And, as much as I hate to do this, I must once again pass off the story to Vinyl.

You see, for most of the night, Vinyl took it upon herself to stay out of the way. She hung out with her old friends, and seemed to try to mingle a bit with some overly-friendly members of the Apple family, but ended up spending most of the night watching quietly from the sidelines.

When I could, I ran to her and invited her onto the floor for a dance. But, as a major player in the wedding’s organization, I found myself being pulled away to help with a number of issues, such as Discord’s emotional outbursts, or Rarity’s sudden desire to put Applejack and Rainbow through an emergency costume change.

But those are stories for another time.

While Pinke, Fluttershy, Rarity, and myself were entirely wrapped up in keeping the newlyweds happy, the newlyweds themselves were left to their own devices.

And they sniffed out Vinyl’s unhappiness in no time.

Vinyl was in the middle of a fairly lackadaisical paper hoofball game with one of the Wonderbolt reserves when Rainbow came up behind her.

“Hey, Scratch,” Rainbow said. “How’s it hangin’?”

Vinyl looked over her shoulder just long enough to miss her shot. “Oh. Hey, guys!”

“Hey, Silver. Mind letting us chat with Vinyl, here?” Applejack asked.

Silver Lining looked a bit caught-in-the-headlights, but shrugged and trotted off.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash pulled up some chairs, sitting across from Vinyl.

Vinyl chuckled. “What is this, and intervention?”

“You’re, like, totally alone,” Rainbow said. “What gives?”

Vinyl shrugged. “This isn’t exactly my scene.”

Applejack scoffed. “Oh, it is too. Weddings are everypony’s scene, they just don’t wanna admit it. So, like Rainbow said, what gives?”

Vinyl sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that. This is fun, and all, don’t get me wrong-- but it’s your guys’ world. I’m just visiting, y’know?”

“Uh, this is more than just a visit,” Rainbow said. “You’ve been hanging around with us for, like, a whole year now.”

Applejack nodded.

“Yeah, but…” Vinyl trailed off.

She looked into the crowd of happy, dancing ponies. All of them seemed to know one another somehow, like some crazy, mixed-up family that had at last been reunited. Things which seemed to be perfectly normal to them were giving her heart palpitations; such as, for example, her brief encounter with Discord.

“Look, Scratch:” Rainbow said. She leaned across the round table towards Vinyl. “I know that all this stuff can be kind of intimidating, but I swear, we’re totally normal ponies. You’re always welcome hanging out with us.”

“I know I am.” Vinyl nodded once, curtly. “But being welcome isn’t always enough, y’know? I feel like an outsider.”

“Vinyl, we--”

“And it’s not your fault!” Vinyl blurted. “Celestia, it’s your wedding day… just, never mind.”

“Vinyl.” Applejack stared down the mare across the table. “Who do you think all these other ponies are?”

Vinyl looked around the room again. And I think this time she saw it differently.

What better place than a wedding to see it, after all? The way friendship, family, love, and hate all tangled together into one giant, mish-mash of a relationship. The way Pinkie Pie was dancing wildly with Shining Armor, the way Fluttershy and Coloratura were entertaining a group of school-aged ponies with a duet, the way Rarity had turned business contacts into valued guests. And, of course, the way I worked so tirelessly to please all of them.

“We’re a family,” Applejack said. “And families always have to grow sooner or later.”

“I won’t lie to you,” Rainbow said. “You’ll never be one of the elements. But, if Twilight loves you… then I do, too.”

Rainbow looked at Applejack, and some sort of unspoken moment of clarity passed between them. As if they could finally see that love, friendship, and family were merely brushstrokes in the great painting of life, notes and themes upon the ballad that we all sung.

For a moment, Vinyl saw it, too.

Vinyl Scratch is in many photos from the wedding. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say she was an element bearer herself.

Author's Note

Yikes! Just under the wire, y'all

This one definitely isn't as fully realized as I'd hoped, but hopefully some of my ramblings make a little sense.

Yourselves

“I want you to move in with me,” I said suddenly.

Vinyl quickly tugged off one side of her headphones. "Sorry, what?"

"I want you to move in!" I repeated, a little more cheerfully.

“Oh!" Vinyl blinked. "You do?”

I put down my book. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I know Lyra and BonBon have you covered, but… it’s time. You should move in.”

Vinyl removed her headphones completely, resting them beside the record-player. “Wow." She seemed to be looking at a distant wall. "Not gonna lie, that would be pretty awesome."

"Really?" I grabbed her hooves in mine. "Oh, that's great. I talked to my brother about it, and--"

"You talked to your brother about it?" Vinyl repeated.

I cocked my head. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

Vinyl shrugged. "I dunno. Don't you have a bunch of friends to help you with that stuff?"

I laughed. "Yes, but I shared a room with Shining Armor when I was little. He knows better than anypony what I'm like to live with."

Vinyl nodded. "Alright, fair enough. Continue."

I shook my head to clear away childhood memories. "Right. I talked to Shining, and he said all this weird stuff about how I should be careful, and how living together can be a challenge."

Vinyl was sort of grimacing. "Uh-huh…"

"But I think he forgets how difficult he makes it," I continued. "Throwing dirty laundry everywhere, leaving snacks to get lost on his desk, snoring--"

"Okay, hold it," Vinyl said, holding up her hooves. "You snore, too."

I pinned my ears down against my head. "Yeah, but… it's a cute snore, right?"

Vinyl scoffed. "Just 'cause you're cute doesn't mean your snore is cute."

I scoffed. "Okay, moving on--"

"I love you and all, but your snores are violent," Vinyl continued, a smirk growing on her lips. "Every single one of them scares me, I swear."

I glared at Vinyl. "Anyway, I--"

"It's like you're a dying jet engine."

"Vinyl!"

"Like listening to a duck fight its way out of a pig."

"Anyway!" I said, giving Vinyl a playful shove.

Vinyl snorted in laughter, but did not continue her ever-popular comedy bit.

"He said we should try it out for a night," I said, trying not to laugh too much myself. "Be scientific about it, y'know? Act how we do when we're alone, and see if we can stand it."

Vinyl scratched the back of her head, trying to get her laughter under control. "That sure does sound scientific."

"So you'll do it?" I asked excitedly.

"I-I didn't say that," Vinyl said. "Look, I don't act the same at all when I'm sleeping with you versus sleeping alone. Who even says they have to be the same, right?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Well, I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable spending the night with me."

Vinyl scoffed. "I've never once been uncomfortable spending the night with you."

"Not even the first time?"

Vinyl sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Okay, you got me. That one was a little uncomfortable."

"What about that really hot day in the summer last year?" I asked. "That was pretty uncomfortable."

Vinyl rocked her head back against the wall. "Oh, Celestia, don't remind me. I'm sweating just thinking about it."

"What about--"

"I mean, like, I've never wanted to act a certain way and stopped myself because I'm with you," Vinyl corrected. "I've never been laying in bed with you and thought 'gee, I would really like to fart right now, but I can't 'cause I'm with Twilight'."

"You've never farted in front of me?" I asked, perhaps more dramatically than the thought required.

Vinyl shrugged. "I hold 'em in."

"You just said you didn't!" I said.

"No, no," Vinyl said, wagging her hoof at me. "I said I've never wanted to fart in front of you. And I won't ever want to."

"Why not?" I demanded.

"Because, Twilight. You don't do that in front of your marefriend, no matter how serious," Vinyl explained.

I scoffed. "You can't seriously be saying you're totally different when you're alone."

Vinyl looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then back at me. "Yeah, no, that's exactly what I'm saying. Everypony is."

"But--" I sighed. "Is it wrong that I want you to just let it all hang out with me?"

Vinyl snickered. "'Let it all hang out'? Where the hell did you learn that?"

I cleared my throat. "Zephyr Breeze…" I muttered. "But the point stands! You should be able to be your total, authentic self with me. Don't you think?"

"Well… when you put it that way, yeah," Vinyl agreed. "I just think there's crap I do alone that isn't exactly integral to my authentic self, and that you could definitely do without."

"Such as?" I asked.

"I dunno… I sing myself to sleep some nights."

I furrowed my brows. "How does that work?"

Vinyl shrugged. "I get bored trying to fall asleep so I start singing."

"You get bored?" I repeated.

"Yeah, come on. Don't you ever make up those elaborate daydreams before you fall asleep?" Vinyl asked. "To keep yourself entertained?"

"Um…" I rubbed my chin. "I think I mostly just write checklists for the next day."

"No, like, when you're laying down," Vinyl corrected.

"Yeah. When I'm laying down," I agreed.

Vinyl blinked. "Wait, you write checklists in your head before you fall asleep?"

"You don't?"

Vinyl hung her head. "Twi, you gotta get some therapy for that anxiety. I'm serious." She looked up at me. "Sleep is the one time you're not supposed to be working."

I shrugged. "It's when I do my best work."

"Oh, Celestia…" Vinyl covered her face with her hooves.

I sighed. "You seriously don't wanna do a trial run?" I asked. "Is it because you don't wanna move in? I won't be offended, I just--"

"No, no!" Vinyl grabbed my hooves mid-gesture. "I definitely want to move in."

I smiled.

"But we don't need a trial run. We spend the night together all the time."

"But what if… what if Shining is right?" I murmured. "What if we're not being authentic?"

"I'm being as authentic as I need to be," Vinyl argued. "You don't need to see how the sausage gets made. They use all the ugly vegetables. It's disgusting, they're like little mutants."

"But I like the ugly vegetables!" I insisted. "I wanna take care of them, and appreciate them, and cook them into a casserole!"

Vinyl laughed. "You're a terrible cook, Twi. Love you-- but terrible."

I hung my head. "But-- well, I wanna try."

Vinyl sighed deeply. It was the kind of sigh a frustrated parent might make just before relenting to the wishes of their crying foal. "Okay," she said, putting a hoof on my shoulder. "I can see where this is going, so let's just cut to the chase and agree to do that trial run."

"Really?"

"One condition:" Vinyl said. "I want it known that I'm only doing this to prove you wrong. Everything is gonna go super smooth. Trust me."

"Just be yourselves," Shining had said. "For real. You'll regret it if you just dive right in."

But Vinyl was right! We'd spent so many nights together these past two years… and it had always gone well then. What, exactly, needed to change? Everything was going so smoothly. We had such a nice rhythm.

Vinyl arrived after dinner, wearing a rather large sweatshirt and generally looking quite cozy.

“Hi,” I said, smiling sweetly. “I like your sweatshirt.”

Vinyl flipped the hood off her head with one smooth motion. “Well, you can’t have it, Twilight Clothes-Stealer.”

I scoffed. “We’ll see about that.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes, a smirk briefly playing over her face. She trotted inside, giving me a quick peck on the cheek as she did. She made her way over to the nearest throne and began to struggle off her sweatshirt.

“Okay!” I said. “What’s the plan?”

Vinyl paused, the sweatshirt caught half-on and half-off. “Sorry… the plan?”

“You know. For tonight!”

Vinyl ripped her sweatshirt off rather violently. “Oh. I figured we could hang out a while. There’s a record up in the archives I’ve been meaning to get to.”

“I meant, like…” I shuffled my hooves. “The bedtime plan.”

“Uh…” Vinyl’s face contorted into a comedic grimace. “Y’know, Twi, we’re supposed to be doing things how we would normally.”

“Uh-huh…”

“So… I’m not planning on having a bedtime ‘plan’ every night,” Vinyl explained. “I’m just gonna live my life and eventually fall asleep.”

I chuckled. “Right, right…”

“Unless!” Vinyl stood up, her sweatshirt slung over one shoulder. “Unless y-you usually make a bedtime plan. ‘Cause I’m totally cool with that. That totally works for me. I love bedtime plans.”

“No!” I said, straightening up. “I don’t plan stuff.”

Vinyl gave me a knowing look. “Come on, Twi. You do too.”

“Not everything…” I murmured.

Vinyl came to my side, and wrapped a foreleg around my shoulders. “Alright. Tell me how a typical Twilight Sparkle evening goes.”

I smiled in embarrassment, equally happy and horrified that I was known so well. “I usually have a cup of tea around now.”

“Great!” Vinyl said. “Let’s have a cup of tea together.”

“Yeah?”

“Hell yeah,” Vinyl agreed. “I like tea.”

“But, what do you--”

“Bup, bup!” Vinyl placed a hoof over my mouth to gently stop me. “We’ll do my thing next, okay? Let’s have some tea.”

We walked together into the kitchen. I tried to covertly slip Vinyl’s sweatshirt off her shoulder, but she held onto it with her own magic quite expertly.

Vinyl plopped herself down at the island, and I began to gather things from the cabinets. “What do you usually do at night?” I asked.

Vinyl sighed. “I dunno. Depends.”

“Well, what did you do last night, then?” I asked, dropping some tea bags into mugs.

“Um…” Vinyl tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I did some composing on my ukulele from bed.”

“Wow.” I was honestly taken aback. I had seen Vinyl compose before, but it was always such an event. She would work surrounded by instruments, scribbling rapidly on papers every few seconds. “Do you do that a lot?”

“Sometimes,” Vinyl said with a shrug. “If I’m antsy.”

I walked the kettle over to the sink, and began to fill it with water. “So you don’t have any routines?” I asked.

Vinyl thought for a moment. “Brushing my teeth?”

I laughed. “What about all that stuff you said about being a totally different pony at home?”

“Oh, that stuff,” Vinyl said, feigning a breakthrough moment. She even smacked her forehead with one hoof. “I just… y’know, I spend time with myself.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You mean like--”

“Like listen to music!” Vinyl corrected quickly. “And, y’know, occasionally… other things.”

I rolled my eyes.

“What!” Vinyl complained, laughing. “See, this is what I was talking about; I only do that when I don’t have my marefriend around for some sweet lovin’. It’s irrelevant.”

“Of course,” I muttered, smirking at her. “How foolish of me.”

“Incredibly foolish,” Vinyl agreed.

The kettle began to rumble lightly on the stovetop.

I sighed. “So, you listen to music?”

“Smooth subject change, princess,” Vinyl commented. She cleared her throat. “Yeah. I like to just lay back, stare at the ceiling and listen to whatever comes on the radio. It’s how I got my cutie mark, y’know? Still feels good.”

I smiled. “That’s so sweet.”

Vinyl posed with her hooves under her chin. “I know, right?”

“Why don’t you do that when you sleep over?” I asked. “You must miss it.”

Vinyl’s face fell from a cheesy grin to a comical grimace. “‘Cause… I’m with you.”

“And?”

“And… That’s so anti-social,” Vinyl said. “You’re right there.”

“Yeah, but--”

“You can’t possibly tell me you never read in bed,” Vinyl said. “I know you. You’re a bedtime reader. I’m sure, when you were a filly, you got yelled at for staying up late to finish reading under the covers. Am I right?”

I cocked my head. “Well… yeah, but--”

“But you’ve never read in bed when I’m here,” Vinyl said.

The kettle whistled, and I pulled it off the stovetop, pouring the liquid into the nearby mugs. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything…”

“Oh, really?” Vinyl said. “You don’t see how it might be connected?”

I sighed. “Well, I like talking to you!” I said. “If you’re with me, I’m not gonna not talk to you!”

“Exactly!” Vinyl exclaimed.

“Well, I’m going to read in bed tonight,” I said. “I just haven’t before. So, there.”

“Right, right,” Vinyl said sarcastically. “You got me.”

I stuck my tongue out at her.

She stuck her tongue back out at me.

We held steady for a moment, glaring steely-eyed at one another, but unfortunately I lost the battle to laughter. Vinyl held strong for another second, but the sound of my own laughter proved too much for her.

When we settled a moment later, Vinyl sighed. “What will you be reading in bed, hm?”

“Oh! I think you’d like it, actually; it’s a noir mystery set in early Canterlot,” I explained excitedly.

We chatted easily over tea, slowly draining our cups as the sun went down.

When we finished, Vinyl and I went upstairs together. Vinyl had a spare toothbrush here, since she did spend the night from time to time. We brushed our teeth side by side, spitting in unison, and giggling over toothpaste beards.

For that time, I couldn’t possibly see what Shining Armor meant. This was so easy, after all! Just like any other time we spent together. What could change so much as to make this difficult? What was so hard about integrating your lives when you already went so well together?

At long last, Vinyl and I crawled into bed.

I switched off my bedside lamp. Vinyl switched off hers.

I cracked open a book, as I always do, using my horn as a book light.

We lay quietly for a while.

Then Vinyl kicked me.

I slid my leg away, figuring it was a mistake. But she kicked again.

I cleared my throat at her.

“Hm?” Vinyl rolled back over to face me. “What is it?”

“You’re kicking me,” I said. “Do you need something?”

“Oh,” Vinyl said, seeming to consider her actions. “No, sorry.”

“That’s alright,” I said.

My eyes returned to the page.

“Boy, what time is it?” Vinyl asked. “Like ten? Eleven, maybe?”

I glanced at the clock. “It’s nine-thirty.”

Vinyl sighed. “Wow. Seems later than that, doesn’t it?”

I closed my book. “If you want me to stop reading so bad, you can just say so.”

“Oh, no!” Vinyl fought, though not very enthusiastically. “Y-you can keep reading. It’s no biggie.”

“No, no-- it’s keeping you up,” I said, placing the book on my nightstand. “I’ll just go to sleep.”

“Okay. If you’re sure,” Vinyl said.

“I’m sure.”

I shimmied down into bed, allowing the covers to come up to my chin.

It was really no big deal. I didn’t need to read in bed. I could very easily just read at any other time of day. Plus, I bet my sleeping schedule could be better anyway. Maybe with Vinyl living here, I could finally get the sleep I’m supposed to be getting!

I sighed.

Vinyl was really warm.

Like, really warm.

I kicked my back legs out from under the blanket.

There, that was a little better.

Wow. Had she always been this hot? She was hot. Practically her own space heater, this mare.

I kicked my front legs out, too, allowing just a tiny stripe of blanket to rest over my stomach.

Vinyl made a sound of discomfort. “It’s cold in here.”

I scoffed. “Cold? You’re radiating heat.”

Vinyl rolled over to look at me. “Really?”

I nodded. “Do you not feel it?”

Vinyl looked at me. “Uh… no?”

Thoughts of elementary science whirled through my head, something about endothermic and exothermic reactions… I couldn’t quite remember. I was too hot!

“I can’t get out from under the blankets if you want,” Vinyl said.

“No, no. Don’t be silly,” I said.

“I’m not being silly,” Vinyl said. “I don’t want to boil you alive.”

“Well, then, why don’t you take the blanket?” I suggested, pushing it off on her. “And I’ll lay over here.” I started to slide all the way to the edge of my bed, hoping to catch a breeze.

“Uh… alright,” Vinyl murmured.

I folded my hooves over my chest, but even that was making me too hot.

Vinyl wrapped herself up in my quilt and seemed to go right back to sleep, now leaving me awake to fend for myself. In the desert. Or maybe a humid, cloying jungle.

Hm. Well, two can play at this game.

I reached back over to the night stand and pulled down my book, lighting my horn as quietly as possible and continuing to read.

I felt Vinyl shift. I’m assuming she looked over her shoulder at me, saw that I was back to reading, and angrily bundled herself up in the blankets to act as a shield.

We stayed this way for a while, sequestered to opposite sides of the bed, steaming in anger.

I felt like I wasn’t even reading the words on the page, though my eyes scanned over them anyway. Who did she think she was, coming into my home, telling me not to read my book, toasting up my blankets? I was the one who actually owned this place!

Oh.

Oh!

I rolled back over, just as Vinyl did.

“You know, if you’re going to move in, I should get a bigger bed!” I said. “This is only for one pony, we need one for two.”

“If you’re going to be reading, then I should just listen to music like I do alone, right?” Vinyl said. “Or-- I mean, maybe I’ll start reading with you!”

We looked at each other, worry dissolving to a shameful happiness. We started to giggle.

“I guess this is what Shining Armor meant, huh?” Vinyl said.

I shrugged. “Maybe he’s not quite as crazy as he seems.”

We talked well into the night. Talked about everything. All the details of how we lived, our day to day things. How Vinyl likes fluffernutter sandwiches. How I prefer to keep the castle a little chilly. How she likes the windows open. How I make the bed.

The next night, Vinyl and I fell asleep holding hooves-- her listening to music on studio headphones, me with a book open across my chest.

Author's Note

In this house, we do fluff and character development at the same time

Zany

It has now been about three years.

Vinyl and I argued about when, exactly, our relationship had started. There were many possible answers; the day we had met, our first kiss, the night we had, um… reconciled. The morning following our reconciliation.

We never really managed to settle. Settling would reduce our story to something much briefer than it had truly been. And stories matter.

To say that things had changed would be a gross understatement. In fact, so very much had changed that I doubt I’d be able to summarize it accurately. My life was always changing, after all. I met new ponies, visited new places, and took on new challenges every day. It was my job, after all!

It has been about a month since my friends and I faced the Pony of Shadows. There’s been a lull, lately, in cutie map assignments, and I’ve been using the time to work on a personal project of mine.

Vinyl’s presence in my life has become comforting and familiar. She’s moved in, but her music is taking off, and she often leaves to go on brief tours through Canterlot and Manehattan. She’s often apologetic about it, but I’m trying to train her out of it! I leave a lot, too, after all.

Anyway.

Our relationship was steady and true. Vinyl meshed well with all of my friends, often distributing spare tickets to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, aiding Rarity with networking and “connecting to the youth” (even though they’re the same age), even working on a small cactus garden with Fluttershy and Applejack.

To put it simply, nothing truly “major” happened after moving in together. Nothing worth telling, that is.

Until one morning in early March, when Vinyl was feeling chatty.

“I’m bored,” Vinyl said, leaning back in her chair.

“Bored?” I repeated. “You’re never bored.”

“Well, I am now!” Vinyl insisted. “It’s a new feeling. I dunno what to do with myself.”

I chuckled and shook my head a little, returning to the array of books I had open on my desk.

Vinyl perked up a little, then trotted over to my side. “What are you doing? Anything interesting?”

I did not look up from my book. “I’m researching educational methods and standards out of Canterlot.”

Vinyl sighed, and faked wobbly knees. “That’s even more boring than nothing…”

I turned to glare at her.

“For me. Not for you, of course,” Vinyl corrected quickly. She flashed me a smile. “Come on. There’s gotta be something to do. Aren’t you guys always going on adventures and stuff? How do I go on an adventure, huh?”

“Maybe start by going outside?” I suggested.

Vinyl paused, then looked up at the window over my desk. It was a gorgeous day out, especially being so close to winter wrap-up. Celestia herself must have been as eager for spring as we all were, for the heat of the sun was rapidly melting the small snow drifts. Birds were singing. The air was brisk, but lovely. A great day to spend outdoors.

“Nah,” Vinyl said. “Not today.”

I laughed. “Sometimes you’re worse than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, you know that?”

Vinyl flipped her mane dramatically. “I’m youthful, Twilight. You’re just jealous ‘cause you’re, like, a billion years old in there.”

“I’m an old soul!” I argued, still laughing.

“Yeah, yeah,” Vinyl agreed. She wrapped a leg around my shoulders and kissed me gently on the head. “I’ll be honest, I thought life with you was gonna be a lot crazier than it is.”

I scoffed.”What’s that supposed to mean?”

Vinyl shrugged. “Well, y’know. You and your friends are always going on crazy adventures and fighting monsters and stuff. But I feel like I’m just doing the same old stuff. How come I don’t get to go on all your zany friendship missions, huh?”

I couldn’t have scripted it better myself. Nopony could have.

I turned to Vinyl, preparing my very best lecture voice for my explanation of the cutie map, when a little shimmer and a pulse of light cut me off.

Down on my flank, my cutie mark was pulsing and shining, calling me downstairs to look at the map.

Vinyl threw her head back. “Oh, you are kidding me!” She complained.

“I’m sorry, Vi, looks like I’d better--” But the words were caught in my throat.

Vinyl’s flank was shimmering and pulsing, too… just like mine.

I pointed, wordlessly, my mouth hanging open.

Vinyl’s eyes grew wide, and her head snapped back to look at her flank.

She looked slowly back up to me, grinning like a maniac. “No way,” she said.

“How did--”

“No way!” Vinyl was jumping up and down now, her smile wider than I’d ever seen. “No way, no way!”

I stood up, still unable to form a whole thought.

Vinyl was bouncing around the room like a filly. She had quite the leap, actually. “I gotta wish for stuff out loud more often!”

“I--” I kept staring at her flank, trying to figure out if it was really real.

Sure, the map had called Starlight. And Spike. But they were… well, they were connected. Somehow how. They were all tangled up in the roots of the Tree of Harmony. They had things to learn about friendship but, more importantly, things to teach about friendship.

Vinyl, as much as I cared for her, didn’t seem to belong to that group.

“Uh…” I kept trying to find a nice way to ask if I could check her flank and make sure she wasn’t faking it.

“Let’s go downstairs!” Vinyl exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see where we’re going!”

I was silent for a moment. My brows furrowed.

Vinyl’s frantic leaping came to a slow stop, and she looked at me with her head cocked to one side. “What’s wrong, Twi? You okay?”

I blinked, and quickly painted on a happy face. “Yeah, of course! L-let’s-- let’s go downstairs!”

Vinyl didn’t wait to see if I would follow, just darted out of the room and down the stairs as fast as she could.

After a moment’s hesitation, I followed her.

It was silly. To divide the ponies of my life into compartments like this, especially such hazily-defined compartments. That was an old Twilight thing. You’re new Twilight! One-big-happy-family Twilight!

By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a knock at the door.

Vinyl zipped over and opened it up, revealing a smiling Pinkie Pie.

“Heya, Vinyl! I’m here for-- ohmigosh!” Pinkie drew in a gigantic gasp, pointing at Vinyl’s flank. “You’re coming with us?!”

Vinyl said nothing, just beamed.

“That’s so amazing!” Pinkie squealed. She tackled Vinyl to the floor in a brief, but violent, hug. “I knew you’d get to come with us someday!”

I looked over at the map. Me, Vinyl, and Pinkie Pie, all swirling around the tiny hamlet of Sire’s Hollow.

What could they possibly need from the three of us?

Vinyl and Pinkie all but exploded off the train when it pulled into the station, babbling excitedly about past friendship problems we had faced, as well as wondering quite loudly about what the issue might be here.

I followed behind them as quietly as I could manage.

Evena short train ride was enough to make me feel deeply guilty about my reaction to Vinyl’s call.

I supposed it was the imposter syndrome bubbling up in me. Though that was probably just a convenient excuse.

“So…” Vinyl paused a moment, looking around at this new town. “What exactly do you guys do? Like, to find the problem?”

I came to sand between Vinyl and Pinkie. “It usually just kind of finds its way to us. It’s not an exact science… unfortunately.”

Vinyl chuckled and gave me a bit of a noogie.

“Oh, Twilight. You feel it with your heart!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Hearts can be an exact science if you try, you know. You just need practice!”

“What does it feel like when your heart talks, exactly?” Vinyl asked.

Pinkie’s face scrunched up. “It doesn’t talk, really. You have to play hot or cold!”

Vinyl laughed. “Are you serious!”

“Super serious!” Pinkie agreed. She winked at Vinyl, then began bouncing into town.

Vinyl and I followed her at a distance, allowing her occasional shouts of “cold!” or “freezing!” to guide us.

“Is it weird that I’m really excited?” Vinyl asked softly. “Like really excited.”

I giggled. “It’s not weird. Just don’t get your hopes up, okay? These things are usually pretty mundane.”

Vinyl scoffed. “Maybe to you. But I don’t get to do this kinda thing. Like, help ponies and teach them and stuff. I can’t believe somepony out there needs me. Me specifically. It makes me feel… good. Really good, actually.”

Was that it?

I didn’t want anypony to need Vinyl but me?

No, no. That was truly crazy. After all, nothing made me happier than watching Vinyl integrate herself with my friends and family. I was the Princess of Friendship! And that wasn’t just a title, it was something in my bones.

What was it that was making me so nervous?

“I know exactly what you mean,” I said. “I think I’m still surprised that ponies need me. I don’t usually feel very useful.”

Vinyl’s brows furrowed. “Are you kidding? You’re amazing. It’s just that you’re a little focused on other ponies to handle your own crap… that’s probably why you feel so useless. You’re definitely useless to yourself.”

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered.

“That’s why you have me, though!” Vinyl said, beaming. “I’m the perfect pony to yell at you when you’re being crazy. Plus, I have no qualms physically wrestling you away from problems, should it get to that point. It’s the perfect combination.”

I smiled a little. “Do you think about this stuff a lot? Like.. our relationship?”

Vinyl chuckled. “Twilight, I may not look it, but I’m an artist. Thinking about feelings and junk is kinda required.”

I laughed. “Wow. Feelings, math, science, electronics… what don’t you do?”

“Whistle,” Vinyl said. To prove it, she puckered her lips and blew, making nothing but a hollow and spitty sound. “See? Nothin’.”

“Well, if you ever need a whistler for one of your songs, you got me,” I said, nudging her gently.

Vinyl smiled at me. “Aw, thanks, Twi. I knew I started dating you for a reason.”

I giggled. Vinyl leaned into me a bit, pushing me off course. I leaned back into her.

I should have felt better, but I somehow felt… worse?

“Hot!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “Hot! Hot! Hot!”

Vinyl and I exchanged a look, then broke into a gallop towards Pinkie Pie’s voice. I hoped against hope she wasn’t shouting directly in the face of a friendship problem.

We rounded a corner into a back alley and found Pinkie Pie standing there, facing away from us.

“Right here!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Where’s the problem? Is it a fight?”

Pinkie turned around to shush us, then pointed out the other end of the alley.

Vinyl looked at me, shrugged, and snuck towards Pinkie Pie. I followed just behind her, using my height to get a glimpse over her.

On the other side of the alley was a small river. More of a creek, to be honest. It was sort of picturesque; crystal clear water, a bed of smooth stones, and a large boulder sitting on its bank. It was the kind of thing you’d see in a painting hanging in the dentist’s office.

Atop the boulder sat a small filly. A blank flank, I noticed. Her cheek was compressed onto one hoof, and she stared down at the running water of the creek with a deeply plaintive look in her shimmering green eyes.

As we watched, she used her magic to lift a small pebble. She studied it for a moment, then hurled it into the river. This seemed to bring her no joy whatsoever.

She slumped slowly to the ground and leaned her head back against the rock, letting out a long sigh as she did so. She kicked the very tips of her brown hooves in the water.

“What’s wrong with her?” Vinyl asked.

“She’s just so… sad,” Pinkie commented. “What could make a little filly so sad?”

“Maybe she wants to get her cutie mark?” Vinyl suggested.

I shook my head. “I doubt it. The map would’ve called the cutie mark crusaders for help with that.”

Pinkie scoffed. “We can help with cutie marks!”

“Yeah, Twilight!” Vinyl agreed. “We can totally help!”

“But we all have different talents!” I argued. “Why would the map call the three of us to help with a cutie mark? What talent could she possibly have?”

Pinkie chewed her lip. “Magical… musical… baking?” she suggested haltingly.

Vinyl grimaced at her.

“I don’t think that’s it,” I said.

“Huh.” Pinkie nodded slowly. “I’ll keep brainstorming.”

“Princess?” a tiny voice asked.

The three of us leapt backwards as one group, clinging to one another in shock and surprise.

The filly was standing right in front of us, brushing unruly green bangs out of her eyes with one hoof. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh…”

This was always my least favorite part. What was I supposed to say without sounding like a total dweeb? How was I supposed to announce to this little filly that I was here to help her with whatever was bothering her, and she’d better open up to me about it?

“Are you here to help with my friendship problem?” the filly asked.

“Wow,” Vinyl commented. “You’re smart, that’s exactly why we’re here.”

Author's Note

Well, I meant to get through a lot more of this story today, but that's alright! We hit 2k, and it was gonna be 2-part anywho.

& (Ampersand)

The filly cocked her head, looking at me with furrowed brows. “You’re the Princess, right? The Princess always comes to help with friendship problems.” She looked past Pinkie and over to Vinyl. “Who are you?”

“Who, me?” Vinyl said, pointing to herself. “I’m Vinyl. I’m like a, uh… friendship apprentice.”

The filly looked even more confused.

“It’s her very first time out!” Pinkie explained. “And she is just so, so, so excited to help! Right?”

“Uh… yeah!” Vinyl agreed. She flashed an uncertain smile and crouched down to the filly’s level. “What’s your name, little filly?”

“Type Set,” she said.

“And what’s the problem, exactly, Type Set?” I asked.

As if a switch had been flicked, Type’s face crumpled back into one of utter defeat. She heaved a great sigh. “I don’t think I can be friends with Ink Well and Allegory anymore…”

PInkie gasped softly. “Did they say something mean to you?”

“Not yet,” Type said simply.

Pinkie, Vinyl, and I exchanged a look of confusion. Vinyl seemed to be silently asking if this was normal, while Pinkie was a little surprised that somepony else seemed to possess her eponymous Pinkie Sense.

“Why don’t we sit down by the river and you can tell us all about it?” I suggested.

Type sighed again. “Okay…”

She began to walk slowly back towards the river, dragging her tiny hooves.

My friends and I followed as best we could, but were held back by the filly’s slow, miniature steps.

“Do you think she has powers?” Pinkie hissed at me.

I shook my head, then tapped my lips, gently reminding Pinkie to stay quiet.

“Do you think she doesn’t have really any friends and it’s pre-friend stress?” Vinyl suggested, just as obviously as Pinkie.

“Shush!” I spit back.

“But she walks so slow!” Pinkie argued.

At long last, we reached the bank of the river. Type Set pulled herself up onto the boulder, her tiny hooves slipping against its slick surface. Pinkie, Vinyl, and I plopped down on the sandy shore beside her.

“So, what seems to be the issue, Type?” I asked.

Type sighed again. This filly had some magnificent lung capacity. “Well, my friends--Ink Well and Allegory--both want to be writers when they grow up. They like fantasy stories and stuff. They already have their cutie marks and everything.”

She paused.

“But?” Pinkie prompted.

“But I don’t have mine yet!” Type exclaimed, pointing to her blank flank. “And I used to think I wanted to be just like them, but… I don’t think I want to write made-up things. I think I want to write real things, like in the newspaper and the magazines.”

Vinyl snickered to herself, probably at the concept of ‘real things in magazines’. That hit a little close to home for the two of us.

“Like a journalist?” I said.

Type’s eyes sparkled. “Is that what it’s called? Yes! A journalist!”

I giggled. “Being a journalist is a great profession, Type. You get to travel, meet lots of interesting ponies, and tell important stories. I know lots of great journalists. I’m sure you’d love it!”

“I know!” Type agreed. She looked genuinely happy for a moment, before the look dissolved. She didn’t say anything else.

“So…” Vinyl cleared her throat. “What’s the problem, exactly?”

Type flashed Vinyl a distasteful lookl. “I just told you the problem.”

Vinyl blinked, wearing a vacant expression.

“Um…” I put a hoof on Type’s shoulder. “Maybe you could help my friend out? Since she’s new to all of this, she might need some help seeing the problem more clearly.”

Vinyl thanked me with her eyes.

“Well, what if we were only friends because we all wanted to write stories together?” Type said. She put her chin in her hooves, turning her gaze out over the river. “Now I want to do something else… what if they don’t like me anymore?”

And it all clicked into place.

What was it that Vinyl and Pinkie Pie had in common? A cutie mark that rivaled their origins. A special talent that defined their families and friends.

Who knew better what it was like to be the oddball?

“Ohmigosh!” Pinkie put her hooves over her mouth. “That’s totally crazy! The same thing happened to me when I was a teeny, weeny filly like you!”

Type rolled her head over to look at Pinkie. “Really?” she murmured, not entirely convinced. “My friends don’t even like the paper. They think it’s boring.”

“My family was the same way!” Pinkie explained. She always got this sort of warm look when she talked about her cutie mark, and her time on the rock farm. “I grew up on a rock farm. My family was really-- well, not boring, really. They really liked rocks! But… I thought rocks were boring, so I didn’t get it.”

“That just sounds like what my friends think of me…” Type mumbled.

“But then I got my cutie mark!” Pinkie said. She threw her hooves up in the air in reenacted celebration. “And my family and I got along so much better after that, because we appreciated each other more! I liked parties just as much as they liked rocks!”

“But… but they were your family,” Type said. “They had to get along with you.”

Vinyl stuttered something, then cleared her throat. “Y’know, Type, the same thing happened to me with my friends.”

Type looked at Vinyl with some reproach. “Was it really the same?”

“Yeah,” Vinyl said. “I… well, I like party music, right? Rock music, dance music, all that stuff. The real exciting kind.”

“Mm-hm…” Type mumbled.

“But, when I was a filly, I was only friends with ponies who liked classical music,” Vinyl explained. “I hid it from them for a long time, even after I got my cutie mark. I pretended that I just wanted to do what they did, because I thought they wouldn’t like me anymore if they found out I liked different music.”

Type said nothing, but sat up a little straighter.

“They even trashed on the kind of music I liked sometimes,” Vinyl continued. “They thought it wasn’t as good as classical, and they had a fun time talking sh-- uh, ragging on it, y’know?”

Type nodded. “Just like my friends.”

“Exactly!” Vinyl agreed, smiling. “But, eventually, I told them how I really felt. And you know what happened?”

“What?” Type asked.

“Yeah, what?” Pinkie echoed.

“They were weird about it at first,” Vinyl said. “But they came around. They wanted to listen to my music because I was their friend, and because I liked it. And I started to appreciate classical music more, because they let me into it easier.”

“Aw,” Pinkie commented, grinning sweetly.

Vinyl chuckled in embarrassment. “Yeah… well, anyway, your friends are there for you whether you agree or not. They’re still your friends.”

“You think?” Type asked. Her expression was softening.

I leaned forward a little. “Vinyl is right. My friends and I have a lot of different interests, some things that are in direct competition. Pinkie Pie here, for example, likes surprises, but they scare our other friend, Fluttershy.”

“Boy, do they…” Pinkie commented.

“But they have other things in common!” I said. “Like baking and animals. Their differences aren’t the most important thing about them; their similarities are.”

“Yeah, who knows?” Vinyl said, giving Type an encouraging punch on the shoulder. “Maybe you guys can all work together on something even cooler. My friends and I were all pretty good at making music alone, but we made the best stuff together!”

Type shifted on the boulder, turning to face Vinyl more directly. “You… you did?”

“Heck yeah, we did!” Vinyl made herself chuckle with her own censoring. “It was even better than before, ‘cause it was like… all these competing opinions and ideas made us want to be better and more creative. I wanted to work hard so that my music made them happy, and their music made me happy.

“If you talk to your friends about your interests, they’ll want to work with you to make something bigger and better,” Vinyl continued. She was talking faster and faster now. “That’s what friendship’s all about, right? Being more than the sum of your parts. My friends and I could make more moving music as a group than we ever could have alone… and you and your friends could write the most amazing things if you all brought your unique skills together.”

Type was smiling now, if hesitantly.

Pinkie was looked on, her jaw hanging open. She threw me a quick glance, wondering if I was proud.

I smiled at her, then looked back at Vinyl.

There was something in her eyes… a special kind of sparkle, a glint, a glimmer. Like she was realizing a missing part of herself. She was still talking, gesturing wildly to the little filly, explaining the music she had made with her very oldest friends. But it was like watching it all through a foggy lense, only Vinyl in focus. Even her voice faded away. I only saw the way she spoke, the way it flowed so naturally, the way she understood friendship, and me, and just… everything.

And the cold stone of doubt melted away.

It hadn’t been a distaste for her joining us. It had been a fear that, even if she wanted to, she couldn’t belong. I wanted her to be a part of things so badly that even the thought of failure had terrified me.

By why had I ever been scared in the first place?

It was magic. That little spark of something that made friendships work, made relationships work.

Friendship, magic, love… maybe it was all just one big spectrum.

When I looked at Vinyl, I saw magic. The same magic I had seen when I met Pinkie, and Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, and Fluttershy. A slightly different color, I suppose; a shift in hue, or shade. But it came from the same place.

Type suddenly stood up, and I was pulled out of my thoughts.

“I’m gonna go talk to the foals at the school paper!” she announced. “I’m gonna be a journalist!”

“Heck yeah, you are!” Vinyl agreed, pumping her hoof in the air.

“Heck yeah, I am!” Type agreed.

She was about to take off running, but paused. Without a word, she reached out to hug Vinyl. She was standing on the very tips of her hooves to do it. “Thank you.”

Vinyl sort of laughed and patted her on the back. “No worries, kiddo. Go kick some flank, okay?”

Type pulled away and nodded enthusiastically. Then, without another word, she was off like a shot.

Vinyl watched her go, trying to keep an eye on the filly until she had disappeared around a corner. When Type was gone for good, Vinyl turned to look at me. There was a strange look on her face; one I couldn’t quite decipher.

“I know,” I said. “Not as zany as you were hoping. Our friendships missions can be kinda--”

“Are you kidding me?” Vinyl said, her eyebrows arched as high as they would go. “That was the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever done. Is that how you guys feel all the time? Is this how teachers feel? Is this how parents feel?”

She sort of looked down at her hooves, as if expecting some sort of power to begin flowing out of them, perhaps in the form of liquid rainbows.

Pinkie squealed in delight and tackled Vinyl to the ground in a hug. “Ohmigosh, Vinyl! That was so awesome!”

Vinyl laughed as Pinkie lifted her off the ground, squeezing her tight and rocking back and forth. “Pinkie, come on! Put me down already!”

Pinkie made one more noise of joy, then set Vinyl back down on the ground.

Vinyl looked at me, happy but expectant, almost breathless. “Well? How’d I do, princess?”

I bit my lip to fight back a smile, but the smile won out. “You did amazing, Vinyl! I’m so proud!”

I ran to her and wrapped her up in an embrace, nuzzling her cheek gently. Vinyl leaned into the affection, giggling and beaming.

It was then that our flanks began to pulse again, calling us back to the cutie map.

And, at last, the last message clicked.

Vinyl and Pinkie were here to help Type Set. But I was here to learn something myself, not to teach.

There had been many moments before this one that I had felt love for Vinyl. Many moments that made me think she was the one, that she was perfect for me, and that our happiness was inextricably tied together.

But this was the first moment I saw the magic. That there was something more between us than just chemistry, or friendliness, or even attraction.

There had been magic in the club. In the bookstore. In the diner.

Wherever Vinyl was, there was magic.

No, no-- wherever we were together, there was magic.

Vinyl and me.

Me and Vinyl.

Together.

Author's Note

The final three :yay: hedge your bets here: where will their story end?

! (Exclamation Point)

Have you ever felt like, even though you have your cutie mark, you discovered a brand new talent?

Maybe it’s something silly and small, or maybe it’s something huge; something you’d never considered before, that just makes so much sense!

When I opened the School of Friendship, I had expected that I would experience it as a new challenge. That it would be rewarding, of course, but difficult. More of a labor of love than anything else.

Not to say that it wasn’t a labor of love. And not to say that the school didn’t present some… unique challenges.

But, once I’d smoothed the bumps in the road… I loved it.

More than I ever could have predicted. More than I could even properly explain! It wasn’t all that different than doing missions for the cutie map, really. I was teaching the same things, writing the same reports. But there was just something about doing it in a school--in my school--that made it so much more magical.

The students made a home and a family here within our walls. The smell of freshly-sharpened pencils wafted through the halls, and the sounds of the students lilted from every propped-open door. The voices of my friends spoke with great authority and confidence-- it seemed some of them had found a passion for teaching, as well.

I was more than just a passing influence in creatures’ lives now. They came to stay with me a while, and I got to watch them grow and change up close.

It was another, newer kind of magic. One that I didn’t really have a word for.

This is all to say, of course, that my time had been eaten away even further.

Vinyl, the lovely mare that she is, did not complain. She was working harder than ever now;
with my financial support (by which I mean the financial support of Princess Celestia), she was able to focus on finding her own, true creative soul, rather than merely trying to please the masses.

Her words, not mine.

And I was really proud of her.

But… I missed her.

Which, of course, I felt guilty about. After all, my friends were all here, right? I had the support of everypony I could ever need, and enough work to last a lifetime. But it was hard only crawling into bed with Vinyl at night, the two of us excitedly trying to catch one another up on our lives before we passed out cold.

I missed those long, lazy days in the castle, doing nothing but reading with her by my side. I missed going on little dates with her to the speakeasy, or brunch at the diner. I missed going on vacations with her, seeing the hidden gems of Equestria and beyond. There just wasn’t time for the little stuff anymore.

So… it was hard.

I mean, it was great. The school was great.

But kinda sad.

Vinyl aside, I couldn’t even remember the last time I had read for pleasure.

Rarity had noticed this. She had appointed herself an emotional guardian, of sorts-- a position I had not asked for and didn’t believe was required, but Rarity was absolutely certain that it was.

She basically would drop by my office once a day and bully me into sharing my feelings and stresses, then do what she could to help me out.

Like I said: not necessary.

But… maybe also kinda necessary.

On this particular spring morning, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had departed from the School of Friendship on a mysteriously ill-defined outing, the very concept of which was enough to give me a headache. But I was working on trust, so I let them. Only time would tell whether that was the right choice.

Rarity let herself into my office, grinning proudly. “Good morning, Twilight!”

I groaned something unintelligible, continuing to scribble away at the parchment laid across my desk.

“Goodness, that’s not a good sign,” Rarity said, trotting closer to my desk. “Just what are you working on so feverishly?”

“Paperwork,” I answered quickly.

Rarity blinked. “Well, yes, I’d gathered as much. Given the, erm… paper.”

I sighed. “Liability paperwork.”

“Whatever for?” Rarity asked.

“Rainbow Dash and Applejack’s field trip,” I said.

“Hm. That’s probably wise,” Rarity said. She trotted to a nearby chair and climbed up into it, sitting very precisely.

I continued working, unable to lift my eyes from the paper.

Rarity cleared her throat.

“Mm?”

“Darling, I’m here for our mid-morning check-in,” Rarity reminded me gently. “I’d have to say that watching you work so… frantically isn’t an extraordinarily good sign.”

“I understand, just--” I scribbled in my signature very quickly at the bottom, then magically teleported the paper into its proper file. “Yes?”

Rarity smiled. She really had the therapist smile down. “Well, how are you doing today?”

I sighed, and set my jaw. “I’m stressed. Really wishing that Rainbow and Applejack had cleared this whole field trip thing with me a while ago, I’ve got mountains of paperwork to do now.”

“But… you let them go,” Rarity pointed out.

I sank deeper into my chair. “Well, yeah. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“You trust them,” Rarity said.

“I mean, I trust them enough not to let any students get hurt or die or anything,” I muttered. I paused, thought over my sentence, then sighed. “Yeah. I trust them.”

“Well, good,” Rarity said, obviously satisfied with her little trick. “I’m sure they feel that trust, or they wouldn’t have asked.”

“Yeah…” I tapped my hooves on the desk idly. “Look, Rarity, I appreciate you coming by, but I’m fine! Just general school stress today, nothing I can’t handle.”

“Oh!” Rarity sat up a little straighter, an action which I hadn’t previously thought possible. “Well, that’s wonderful! I actually wanted to speak to you about something… else.”

I cocked my head. “You did?”

“Yes!” Rarity beamed. “I was hoping you might come with me and help with a lesson today! I wanted to teach my students about designing for accessibility, and I thought, since you’re an alicorn…”

I arched my eyebrows, unclear as to where exactly that sentence was going.

“Well, I thought I could use you as a model! Show how to design for horns and wings all at once,” Rarity explained. “Do you think you could come down for my next block to help with a demonstration?”

I glanced at the clock. “Gee, Rarity, that’s only fifteen minutes… I really need to get a headstart on this paperwork, and I have a visitor coming any--”

“Oh, Starlight will gladly step in!” Rarity blurted. “I’ve already asked. She’s going to watch the office for you, just in case!”

My gaze lingered on the clock, even as I tried to turn back to look at Rarity. There was just so much to do… and I certainly didn’t want to have to stay late to finish up paperwork for this field trip. I was just dying to get home and talk to Vinyl all about it.

“Oh, please?” Rarity asked sweetly. “It would mean so much to me, Twilight, my students need a good model.”

“Uh…” I tore my eyes away from the ticking clock and looked back at Rarity. “Sure. Sure, I’d be happy to.”

Rarity clapped her hooves together. “Oh, wonderful! Can you come down now? I’d like to get you primped for your debut.”

“Is that really--”

“It’s necessary,” Rarity said, flatly and sternly. “At least to get your mane and tail well out of the way. Please?”

I looked back at the clock, then to my towering stack of field trip paperwork. “I…” The stack almost seemed to grow as I looked at it, wavering precariously, about to fall over and spill upon the floor…

I closed my eyes, and gathered myself.

It’s just paperwork.

Coming home late would be okay! I could talk to Vinyl in the morning. Maybe she’d even want to stay up with me to chat!

No, I couldn’t stay up late. I had to go to sleep as soon as possible, because it was a school night, because I was a teacher now.

Is this how it was going to be? Just staying late to do paperwork and crashing hard at night, only to wake up the next morning and do it all again?

“Twilight?” Rarity said, looking at me with some concern.

Somewhere in the halls, I could hear a small gaggle of students chatting with one another. Their high-pitched voices were punctuated by little bursts of laughter.

I smiled to myself.

Well, Twilight, you can either have a day full of paperwork… or you can have a fun, hooves-on experience with students followed by a full day of paperwork.

I sighed. “Okay. Yes, I’ll come down now.”

“Perfect!” Rarity said, leaping to her hooves. “Come with me, then. No time to waste!”

I let Rarity grab me by the foreleg and tug me down the hall. It made me feel all young and fresh again, being pushed around Rarity’s tiny boutique and forced to try on increasingly ridiculous outfits.

Amongst the decorated walls and usual classroom doors, something strange stood out to me.

“What’s happening in room 143?” I asked, resisting Rarity’s tugging. “We don’t normally use that room, why is it open?”

Rarity screeched to a halt. “Oh. Oh, that?” She wasn’t really looking, just looking over my shoulder. “That’s-- we’re just using it to store some extra dioramas!”

I furrowed my brows. “Y’know students can always keep that stuff in my office. Where did you even get a key for that room?”

Rarity stared at me, then shrugged. “I don’t know! Pinkie Pie just seemed to have it. Come on!”

“But--”

“The clock is ticking, Twilight!” Rarity reminded me, tugging at me even harder.

I let Rarity keep dragging me down the hallway, though strained to look over my shoulder. I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of somepony coming out of the room-- a very familiar silhouette, and yet--

Rarity gave me one last hearty shove into her classroom, quickly closing the door behind her and drawing the shades.

I must have given her a strange look, because Rarity blurted, “Dressing room etiquette!”

I cocked my head. “Rarity, what’s going on? There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”

Rarity grinned at me. “That… I’m planning on letting my students experiment by drawing on you?” she tried, though not very convincingly.

“Rarity, what is--”

“No time!” Rarity cut me off. “Sit down, I have to do your mane!”

“But, I--”

Rarity forced me down into the chair behind her desk, immediately going to work on my mane. She was tugging and pulling at it awfully hard… mush more aggressively than usual.

“Rarity, I-- yowch!”

“Oops! Sorry, darling, not much time… just sit still, please!” Rarity said, her voice doing its little guilty sing-song thing. She even started to hum to herself, a tuneless and meandering thing without much direction.

From the hallway came a magnificent crash, and I sat bolt upright. “What was that?!”

“Erm-- it must have been--”

I fought off Rarity’s hooves and stood up. “I have to go check that. What if a student got hurt?”

Rarity seemed to be frozen in panic as I moved towards the door. Then, suddenly back in the present, she skittered to my side.

“Twilight, wait!”

But I had opened the door already, revealing an interesting scene.

An entire drumkit’s worth of drums and cymbals were scattered across the floor. In fact, a cymbal was still rolling to a slow halt on the tile floor, and a snare drum was still careening down the hallway.

One either side of the mess was a pony: to my left, Pinkie Pie. To my right--

“Vinyl?!”

“Uh…” Vinyl stood up straight. “Hey, Twi.”

I opened my mouth to respond, shut it, then opened it again. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Canterlot.”

“I… am in Canterlot,” Vinyl said, gesturing vaguely to her surroundings.

I scoffed. “I thought you were having a meeting in Canterlot,” I corrected carefully.

“Y-yeah, I am,” Vinyl said hesitatingly.

I set my jaw, then looked over at Pinkie.

“She is!” Pinkie agreed.

“Rarity?” I called through grit teeth.

Rarity chuckled softly to herself. “We… wanted it to be a surprise. Sorry, darling, I suppose our timing wasn’t as good as we thought it was.”

I blinked. “Wanted what to be a surprise?” I repeated. Then I looked over at Vinyl. “What surprise?”

“Well…” VInyl smiled to herself. “Remember when we went out on that friendship mission together, and I got to talk to that filly?”

I shook my head, not understanding the connection. “Uh-- sure, I guess. But what does--”

“I haven’t really stopped thinking about it,” Vinyl continued. “And especially after you opened the school, I’ve just been thinking that… y’know, maybe I could… and then, Pinkie mentioned that she’d like it if you had a music teacher, and so…”

My mouth was hanging open like a fish.

“Twi?” Vinyl prompted softly. “You okay?”

“You…” I swallowed. “You want to teach here?”

Vinyl smiled sheepishly. “Surprise!”

Oh, my gosh.

I couldn’t even form a whole thought, just kept staring at Vinyl, my face utterly frozen.

“Is that… okay?” Vinyl asked.

“Okay?” I whispered.

Vinyl was looking at me in some sort of abject terror, as if I may just up and kick her out of the school in my next words. “Y-yeah?”

“Okay?!” I repeated, my face finally cracking open into a smile. “You want to teach here!”

Vinyl’s face turned to one of happiness, too. “Hell yeah, I do!”

“Language!” Pinkie reminded us cheerfully.

I rushed in to embrace Vinyl, quickly burying my snout in the hair right on top of her head. Vinyl chuckled giddily and hugged me back very gently, sort of just draping her forelegs around my shoulders.

“You know this means I’m your boss now, right?” I whispered into her mane.

Vinyl laughed lightly. “Ooh, kinky.”

As much as I wanted to scold her for such a stupid comment, I suddenly had this overwhelming feeling of… calm.

Like I could stay right here forever, at last, because they were all here! Everypony I loved. Everypony I cared for. Under one roof. Working together, learning together, teaching together.

And, as that calm washed over and through me, another thought made itself known:

She’s the one.

Author's Note

Wow can you tell I'm in education

? (Question Mark)

She’s the one.

It was the only thought in my head for days. I’m afraid that I must have written it over a myriad of papers, signing it as my name on every form, writing it instead of grades on each exam… She’s the one. I am going to marry Vinyl Scratch.

It may seem like a silly reason to realize it, but I would argue that it is the only way you can discover something so deeply true. It just happens to you one day, out of nowhere, when the silliest little thing happens. And you thank the universe for letting you see it so clearly, but you have to wonder how you didn’t see it sooner. How was their perfection only obvious in this moment? How am I to be sure right here, right now, if I wasn’t already sure a long time ago?

Applejack was the first to notice.

Not that it was hard.

She knocked on the door to my office one morning, peering through the narrow crevice at me. “Uh… Twilight?”

“Mm?” I looked up from my work, smiling sweetly at my visitor. “Oh, Applejack! How can I help you?”

Applejack smiled back, sort of uncertain. “Well, uh… I’m gonna need you to sign this request form again.”

I furrowed my brows. “Why’s that? Do you need more saplings than you thought?”

“No, no, nothin’ like that,” Applejack said. She entered my office, walking slowly towards my desk. “It’s just-- well, you didn’t sign it quite right.”

I leaned forward, holding out a hoof for the paper.

Applejack stared at it a moment longer, then passed it to me.

A deep burning blush immediately rose into my cheeks. There, in a bold and confident cursive, I had signed the paper as “Twilight Scratch”.

I immediately crumpled up the paper and stuffed it into the wastebasket beside my desk. “Whoops! Must have been… thinking about a student and got confused!”

Applejack merely shook her head.

I cringed into myself a little. “No?”

“No.”

I sighed. If you thought Applejack was hard to lie to before, you should try teacher Applejack. That mare’s a real hardass.

“What’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked me, her tone very clearly teasing. She knew exactly what was going on.

I moaned softly, covering my eyes with both hooves.

“C’mon, Twilight. You can tell me,” Applejack coaxed.

I folded my forelegs on the table in front of me and lowered my face into them. “Why does it always have to be this embarrassing, though?” I asked.

Applejack laughed. “Well, it wouldn’t be this embarrassing if you didn’t keep getting this embarrassed.”

I lifted my head enough to peer at Applejack with one stink eye.

She held up her hooves defensively. “Hey, I’m just sayin’. Ain’t nothin’ to be embarrassed over.”

I sat all the way back up.

Applejack had this softness to her face that was unfamiliar to me. At least from Applejack, that is. Like she felt sorry for me, almost, but was also happy for me? Or maybe like she remembered this part, and she was recalling this stage in her own relationship.

“When did you know?” I asked suddenly.

Applejack didn’t even ask for clarification. “Well, one day I was out in the fields applebuckin’, and I was starting to burn out. I decided all on my own that I was gonna take a rest, maybe grab some shuteye.”

I nodded.

“Wouldn’t you know it, not two minutes after I’d made myself comfortable, I see Rainbow coming across the field towards me,” Applejack said, laughing a little to herself. “I thought she was gonna stir up trouble, but she just told me she figured I’d be taking a break around now, and she wanted to bring me some water.”

“Aw,” I commented softly.

Applejack chuckled. “I asked how she knew, and she said she just had a feeling. Hell, I didn’t even know I was about to take a break, y’know? But she did. She knew, and she brought me water.” Applejack smiled wistfully. “Sounds silly when I say it out loud, but that really was the moment I knew I wanted to marry her. I think I started making plans with Rarity that night.”

I smiled. “That doesn’t sound silly at all. That’s… I know exactly what you mean.”

Applejack smirked at me. “It’s ‘cause Vinyl wanted to come teach here, ain’t it?”

My jaw dropped. “How did you know?”

“Aw, I just know you, Twi,” Applejack said. “When Pinkie Pie told me she was helping move Vinyl in as a surprise for you-- well, I was certain right then you’d be proposing soon.”

I blushed. “You were?”

Applejack laughed. “Oh, yeah. Certain as the day is long. You and Vinyl probably shoulda been hitched a long time ago, but I can see why you waited. There’s just always somethin’ goin’ on, isn’t there?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess there is.”

“So, have you talked about it?” Applejack asked. “About getting married?”

I cocked my head. “Er… how so?”

“Just in general. I mean, you know for sure Vinyl wants to get married, don’t you?” Applejack pulled up a chair and sat down, making herself comfortable for what might be a long conversation. “You don’t wanna ask outta nowhere if you’ve never talked about it.”

“Um…” I wracked my brain for any discussions we’d had of the kind. “I think we have a few times. But… well, not about us… together, really.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes very slowly, almost imperceptibly.

“What I mean is-- well, we talk about marriage in general,” I said. “We both want to get married. We both know that about each other. I think, once, Vinyl might have said ‘when we get married’ instead of ‘when I get married’. Is that what you mean?”

“Boy.” Applejack pulled her hat down a little tighter. “Y’all have a weird thing going. Cute, be weird. You talk about feelings all fruity and stuff late at night, don’t you?”

I blushed and looked down at my hooves. “Maybe…”

Applejack scoffed. “See, that’s ‘cause she’s an artist, and you’re a hopeless romantic. Terrible combination. Just two drama queens.”

“Oh, you wanna talk about terrible combinations?” I pushed. “How about the two most stubborn ponies I know?”

Applejack laughed once, loud and pronounced. “Alright, fair enough. But you’re not gettin’ out of the question: you think she wants to marry you?”

I sighed. “I know she wants to get married. And… I’m pretty sure she wants to marry me.”

Applejack smiled at me a little bit. “I think she does, too.”

"You do?"

Applejack waved her hoof dismissively. "Twilight, that mare's crazy about you. Y'all are what I call 'easy third-wheeling'."

"Easy third-wheeling?" I repeated.

"Means you're easy to spend time with. Some couples are-- well, gross, and hard to hang around with if you ain't paired off yourself," Applejack explained. "Couples like that never last long. But ones like you and Vinyl-- well, you're easy 'cause you love each other in every way there is. When you’re alone together, you love each other like marefirends. When you go out with friends, you love each other like friends. You're stronger than those other couples with just one kinda love."

I smiled. "That's… a really beautiful sentiment, Applejack."

"And it's true, too," Applejack added, leaning forward across my desk to gesture more directly to me. "You can take that to the bank. Couples that are easy to third wheel always end up gettin' married. I swear it."

I giggled. "I believe you."

"Well, good.” Applejack leaned back in her chair again. “So, how're you gonna do it?"

I blinked. "Do what?"

"Propose, dummy," Applejack said, with a playful roll of her eyes. "You are proposing, aincha?"

"Uh… " I looked around the room a little, as if hoping an obvious answer would jump out at me. "Y-yes. Yeah, I am."

The rush of emotion that overcame me was almost too much to handle. I was going to propose. I was going to commit to one pony, forever and always. I was going to marry Vinyl Scratch, and every day would be wonderful. Every night I'd crawl into bed beside her and feel her warmth on my side. Every morning I would wake up to her with me. Every day…

"I am," I repeated. "I'm going to propose to her. I'm going to propose to Vinyl!"

"Shush, now!" Applejack scolded. "She teaches here, remember?"

I put both hooves over my mouth. "Whoops."

Applejack smirked at me.

“I--” I thought for a moment. “I don’t have any idea how I’m going to do it. How did you decide?”

Applejack shrugged. “The first time me and RD really started hanging out was to compete. It only made sense that I’d propose to her ‘cause somepony dared me to.”

I chuckled. “Really?”

“Rarity thought it up,” Applejack admitted. “And I was just plumb out of ideas. That mare sure loves drama, don’t she?”

I flashed Applejack a look of agreement.

“I’m sure she’d help you come up with some ideas,” Applejack said. “In fact, I’ll bet she’s been thinkin’ ‘em up since the two of you got together in the first place.”

“Oh, gosh,” I remarked, resting my cheek on one hoof. “That’s so embarrassing.”

“I told you, Twilight: it’s not embarrassing,” Applejack insisted. “If you love somepony, you oughta let ‘em know.”

I returned home that evening in a sort of giddy haze, floating in a warm cloud of happiness.

And indecision.

The thought of proposing hadn’t really entered the equation when I realized I wanted to spend my life with Vinyl-- isn’t that crazy? As far as I was concerned, the decision was made. The switch had been flicked, and I would be married to her.

Honestly, not even a wedding had occurred to me. We were going to have a wedding. With friends and family and-- could you invite students to a wedding?

No, right?

I opened the door to the castle, tossing the keys into a bowl by the door.

“Vinyl?” I called. “You home?”

A moment passed. Silence.

“Spike?” I tried.

A moment passed. “Yeah?”

“Is Vinyl home?” I called.

Spike moaned softly to himself, the sound carrying through the crystal halls. “No.”

Hm.

She must have had some kind of appointment I’d forgotten about. It wasn’t out of the question-- after all, I couldn’t even remember my own name, apparently.

I meandered slowly into the kitchen, thoughts of hot tea occupying large parts of my subconscious. What is it about supping on a cup of tea that just helps you get your thoughts straight? Or is that just me?

I began to hypnotically assemble a mug on the counter.

What were we doing when we first met?

I… guess that depends on how you define our first meeting.

Our first first meeting had been at Cadance’s wedding, oh so long ago. She had been a simple DJ, not there to speak or mingle, just to spin records and give us all a good show. Even though we hadn’t spoken, we’d shared something that night; in sync even back then, singing and playing as one. WIthout that clandestine syncopation, a very special moment may never have happened.

It was lovely. I had fond memories of it.

But Vinyl likely did not. After all, she played hundreds of similar events, probably for figures even more prominent than Princess Cadance.

Were there more prominent figures than the princesses?

Nevermind.

I was now filling the kettle with water at the sink, though I had been too lost in thought to see what led to this action.

The second first time we met had been in the club. This was probably what Vinyl remembered as being our first meeting. Our true first meeting.

It was a feeling that we weren’t alone anymore. WIth my recent princesshood, and wanting only to escape the fame it had brought me, I had felt so seen by her. And, as we had often reminisced, Vinyl had felt appreciated at last; with the way she looked and spoke, other ponies had often thought her the type to never get enough of wild parties and hammering music. But I had sat in the corner with her, hiding out, feeling understood.

She had given me those ear plugs… and I had been the first to appreciate them.

Oh!

I practically threw the kettle down into the sink.

I still had those ear plugs!

Maybe that was something?

I abandoned my tea-making plans, leaving the kitchen in its partially-prepared state, and trotted upstairs.

I had kept the ear plugsin a little tin in my desk drawer. I often brought them with me when I went to Vinyl’s shows, in case I was suddenly overwhelmed and needed a break. After repeated use, the charm had started to wear off, and I’d worked hard to adjust them accordingly; never interrupting Vinyl’s original spellwork, just mending it now and again. I would also perform little maintenances on the foam, or the casing, or just plain freshen them up from time to time. Vinyl had often teased me about it, insisting that she could very easily charm a new pair, but I had refused. I was adamant about keeping these.

The little capsules rolled satisfactorily in my hoof. Their exact weight and shape was so familiar to me that I probably could have made them anew out of thin air with the right spell.

It took me right back to that night. Holding them. I swear I could feel the night air in my mane, could hear Rainbow scolding me for trying to back out (“Look, you promised! You don't have to do anything other than just sit around.”), could feel that strange weight on the back of my neck from the blue glow stick--

Oh! Oh! I still had that, too!

Still holding the ear plugs, I trotted back down the stairs, faster this time.

Sitting back behind a bag of frozen peas was the glow stick, now older than most pony’s shoes. It was still glowing, if very faintly.

I reached in and pulled it out. The texture was… interesting. Especially so cold.

I smiled to myself.

So much confidence I had gained since this glow stick was first snapped. How much my life had changed. How much Vinyl’s life had changed.

I slipped the necklace on over my head. It hung stiffly around my neck, still chilly enough to make me shiver.

Okay, Twilight. You’ve successfully gathered random junk from around the house. Any idea what to do with it?

I hooked my hoof into the glow stick necklace, tugging at it gently until it stretched into an ellipse. It emitted a crackling sound that made me worried about tugging it any further.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear Applejack’s voice, calmly reminding me to talk to Rarity.

I’ll bet she’s been thinkin’ ‘em up since the two of you got together in the first place!

My mind made up, I turned and started to the door.

I almost knew as I approached it that something was different. Perhaps I heard her hoofsteps on the stairs, or had heard the light and familiar notes she was humming to herself.

I opened the door, to see Vinyl, hoof poised midair.

“Oh!” I jumped back a little. “There you are, Vi! Where’ve you been?”

Vinyl’s mouth hung open. She seemed unable to respond.

I stretched around Vinyl a little. Behind her, at the bottom of the stairs, were three familiar faces: BonBon, Ditzy, and Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie was wearing a bass drum on a harness and carrying a hi-hat, grinning like a maniac. BonBon was holding a bass, and Lyra a guitar.

I cocked my head. “Uh… you forming a band?”

Vinyl still seemed totally off guard, trying desperately to recalculate.

“Vi?” I repeated. I stretched around her again, addressing the ponies at the bottom of the stairs. “Girls, do you wanna come in?”

They were silent, too, though in a different way. Kind of a jittery thing. Electric.

“Twilight?” Vinyl finally choked out.

I blinked. “Yeah?”

“Do you, uh…’ Vinyl rubbed one foreleg with the other nervously. “Do you remember the Hearth’s Warming gift you gave me?”

“Uh…” I tried to turn back to Hearth’s Warming. Sometimes it was hard to remember what had been the holidays and what had been an anniversary, given that ours were so close.

“The first one,” Vinyl specified.

The first Hearth’s Warming we’d spent together?

That was a long time ago. I think I’d gotten her some new headphones, which had turned out to be crummier ones than what she already had. Nevertheless, she had made a big deal of them, parading them around town and--

Oh.

The first.

I blushed. “Uh… kinda.”

Vinyl grinned. “You do. You so do. I bet you remember every word of it.”

I giggled a bit. “Maybe.”

Vinyl cleared her throat. The grin softened, and her face grew more serious. “Well… I do. I still have the tape you made me. I bring it with me everywhere I go.”

“You do?” I murmured. My heart fluttered.

Even after all these years, she could still make my heart flutter.

Vinyl nodded. “In fact, it, uh… it inspired me to write a little something.”

“I…” I swallowed. “I inspired you?”

“Twilight, you inspire me every day,” Vinyl said, chuckling. “Don’t act so surprised. Do you wanna hear what I’ve been working on?”

I paused.

Somehow, right then, I knew what was coming. I could’ve said yes right there, I think, and Vinyl would have known.

But I wanted to hear the song.

I nodded.

Vinyl beamed, then turned to Pinkie and nodded once.

Pinkie slammed the hi-hat down onto the dirt and held her sticks in the air. She clicked them together a few times, and then they all started to play.

It was an easy little tune, and Lyra picked something lightly on the guitar. After a bar or two, Vinyl started to sing:

You're the world's greatest song
And we'll all sing along
'Cause the lyrics are smart
It's a true work of art

It won’t always rhyme,
Or even keep perfect time,
But I’ll love every note
‘Cause they’re ones that you wrote

For me

The group continued playing, even after Vinyl had finished singing, their gentle chords ringing out through Ponyville.

“Twilight?” Vinyl asked softly.

I just made a soft sound of surprise, and put a hoof over my mouth.

“I love you,” she said. “And I wanna be with you. I wanna keep hearing your song, as long as you’re willing to sing it to me.”

Tears were already rolling down my cheeks.

“So, I wanted to ask…” Vinyl reached around, revealing a silver ring, perfectly sized to my horn. “Will you--”

“Yes!” I shouted, throwing my hooves around Vinyl’s shoulders and beginning to cry with more force.

Vinyl could barely respond. She rocked backwards a little, nearly tripping backwards down the stairs, but managed to catch herself. “You didn’t let me finish!”

I didn’t respond, just kept laughing and crying into Vinyl’s shoulder.

“Why are you wearing a glow stick?” Vinyl murmured softly.

I pulled back for a moment and sniffled. “I was gonna propose to you,” I said. “But you beat me.”

Vinyl started to chuckle, a deep and melodious sound. “With a glow stick?”

I buried my face back in her mane. “Don’t be mean to your fiance.”

Author's Note

Y'all already know what this is :raritywink:

; (Semicolon)

To tell you the story of our entire wedding would be utterly impossible, for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, the whole thing flew by far too fast. I remember some small moments from the evening, like photos in my mind's eye…

The night before the wedding, Vinyl and I spent the traditional night apart. This was gloriously interrupted when one of Vinyl's favorite musical artists released a new single, and she came running to my door so we could listen together. I didn't mind.

Vinyl's vows came in the form of a poem, one which caused me to break down in gleeful tears at the alter and bring the ceremony to a grinding halt.

On the way from Canterlot Palace to a local club for the reception, Vinyl's family became hopelessly lost, and the two of us had to search the city for them.

Pinkie Pie tried to give a toast, which quickly devolved into a re-telling of one of her own romantic misadventures (of which we were previously unaware).

Fluttershy then bravely jumped in to save it, only to quickly begin crying.

Et cetera, et cetera.

Anyway.

Secondly, the wedding was of the royal variety, and overall not what I would've planned for myself.

What would I have planned, you ask?

I would have eloped.

Rather than telling you the whole story, I'd much rather tell you one of the snapshots I remember with perfect clarity. I'm not sure why I remember this moment so perfectly and completely… but, even now, all of these years later, I can play it back for myself word for word.

Perhaps an hour into the reception, after our first dance had passed and the cake had been sliced, I was exhausted.

My dress, while pretty, was an uncomfortable mess of satin and lace. I had danced my heart out, and I needed a breather.

I collapsed unceremoniously into my chair. Nopony talks about how much you sweat in your wedding gown.

Vinyl was still dancing with unbridled energy, clearly less encumbered by her suit than I was by my dress. She was on the floor with her friends--Lyra, BonBon, and Ditzy--all of whom had gotten close with our group as well. Our massive joint game nights were truly something to behold; Lyra's stubbornness almost rivaled Applejack's, and BonBon was surprisingly good at holding her liquor.

After a moment or two, Vinyl locked eyes with me. I waved to her, not intending to call her over, though she was at my side almost instantly.

"Hey, Twi. You okay?" she asked, out of breath.

"I'm fine!" I said with a laugh. "Just… tired and sweaty. Go on, keep dancing!"

Vinyl shook her head. "Are you kidding? No way. I'm gonna sit with my sweaty, stinky wife."

I glared at her. "Gee, thanks."

"Your words, Twi. Not mine," Vinyl teased. "No worries. I love you even at your sweaty-stinkiest."

I looked down and blushed. "I love you, too."

"Aw, even at my sweaty-stinkiest?" Vinyl asked, nuzzling my cheek affectionately.

I giggled. "Yes, even then," I said, feigning frustration (and not very well).

"Even when I'm all sick and gross?" Vinyl asked. "With that really nasty phlegmy cough?"

"Yes, Vi."

"Well, that's a relief," Vi said, collapsing back in her chair. "You forgot to put that part in your vows, y'know. About all the bodily fluids involved in loving me forever."

"Wow. How could I be so blind?" I muttered, casting Vinyl a snide grin.

Vinyl nickered. "I dunno, Twi. I hope you have somepony checking your lesson plans."

I snorted, but said nothing.

A silence fell between the two of us. We looked out at the room of friends and family, watching our worlds collide in a way that really couldn't be conceived of before now. Childhood friends of mine were meeting Vinyl's family. Work acquaintances of Vinyl's were meeting the princesses of Equestria.

There was a palpable energy of warmth and love permeating the room. That magic was weaving itself into the lives of everycreature here; some shifted towards Cadance's pink, and some closer to my own lavender hue. I could see the smoky tendrils of it swirling about every table, cloying to the hides of every guest. I watched them breathe it in, and speak it to those who stood around them.

I wish I could have taken credit for it, but the magic of friendship and love is a beast all its own. You can guide it, nurture it, help it to grow; but it will do so in the strangest of places. Like a dandelion pushing through the cracks in the sidewalk.

“I still can’t quite believe she came,” I said softly.

Vinyl turned to me. "Who?"

I nodded over to a table in the corner.

Vinyl looked where I had gestured, then chuckled. "Why wouldn't she?"

I shrugged. My dress restricted the motion in a small way I hadn't expected, and I made a small sound of discomfort.

"I told you you were gonna regret the dress," Vinyl commented wryly.

I stomped my hoof. "And I told you that I wanted to look like a princess." I held my head high and smiled sneakily.

Vinyl took my hoof in hers. "Twilight, you literally always look like a princess. And that's not even a line."

I snorted and gave Vinyl a playful shove. "Be serious."

"I am serious, you dope!" Vinyl shoved me back. "Now, stop worrying about Octavia, would you? She seems perfectly happy to me."

As Vinyl said this, a high and cutting bout of Bittish laughter was heard over the general ruckus of the reception. I looked across the room, past the tables filled with friends and family, to see Octavia laughing wildly, none other than Flash Sentry on her arm.

I didn't really know the whole story, I'll admit to that-- but apparently the two of them had got to talking after our little… incident, and hit it off. It turned out the two of them had had remarkably similar childhoods filled with unnecessary pressure and direction, and finding each other had allowed both of them to let loose in some… well, healthier ways then they had previously expressed. The pair of them had been spotted all across Canterlot, looking almost like everypony else.

It was unclear to most of us whether or not the two of them were actually an item. However they defined themselves, they were practically inseparable.

"Are you sure you don't wanna say hi to your old boy toy?" Vinyl teased. She poked me gently in the shoulder, my dress ruffling under her hoof. "Huh? Huh?"

"Oh, quit it," I scolded, blushing all the while.

"Nope," Vinyl said simply. "You married me. You knew what you were getting."

"Yeah, yeah…" I muttered.

Vinyl smiled at me for one lingering moment, then slid her chair right up against mine and leaned into me. I wrapped my foreleg around her, squeezing her gently, yet insistently. True to her word, she did not complain about the sweaty sheen on my skin.

"So, what does this mean?" Vinyl asked.

I looked down at her. "What does what mean?"

Vinyl pulled away to look at me. "Well, you're a princess, right? Does that make me a princess, too?" Vinyl flashed a cheesy grin. "Do I get to pick what I'm princess of?"

I shook my head. "Oh, Vi…"

"Does it have to be a relationship?" Vinyl asked, her tone almost worryingly serious. "Can I be princess of work friends? Or-- ooh! Can I be princess of creepy-close cousins? How about princess of nemeses-- like princess of ponies who hate each other?"

"Vinyl, I swear--"

"Come on!" Vinyl tugged at my foreleg. "Come on, let me be princess! It's my wedding, I wanna be a princess!"

"It's my wedding, too!" I reminded her, unable to keep myself from laughing.

"Yeah and, as we've established, you're already a princess," Vinyl reminded me. She added a light scoff, only barely maintaining her facade of seriousness. "I can do time of day, too-- I could be a really good princess of two in the afternoon. Although, I feel like princess of two in the morning might fit me better. Personality-wise."

"How about 'Princess of Leap Day'?" I suggested snidely. "Think you can handle a domain of one day every four years? Or would you prefer an even rarer event?"

Vinyl put a hoof suddenly to her chest, feigning an injury. "Ooh, right through the heart, Twi."

I giggled.

"How did it work with your brother?" Vinyl asked. "He married Cadance-- is he a prince?"

I furrowed my brows, lifting my glass of champagne from the table. "Technically. He doesn't exactly refer to himself as a prince, but the title is his. If he wanted it."

Vinyl drew in a sharp gasp. I nearly spit out my champagne at the suddenness of the sound.

"Does that mean I'm a friendship princess, too?!"

"Technically," I corrected firmly. "That doesn't mean you have any powers, you're a… you're a friendship-princess-in-law."

Vinyl was not deterred. He eyes were sparkling with possibility. It was as if I could see her mentally rummaging about for possible comedic content. "Ohmigosh, ohmigosh-- okay, my first decree as Princess of Friendship--"

"You don't get to make decrees!" I argued, fighting back laughter with everything I had.

"--is to create an international holiday called 'The Fires of Friendship'--"

"Oh, boy…"

"And, on this day, everycreature is encouraged to test the strength and loyalty of their friendships with rigorous physical examinations," Vinyl explained. "This who participate and succeed are awarded with knighthood from you."

Vinyl looked up at me for approval.

I looked back at her an blinked.

She blinked, too.

"How long of you been thinking about this?" I asked.

Vinyl smiled to herself with a strange sort of pride. "I've always got something cooking. You should know that about me by now."

She fell silent, relaxing back into her chair.

For a moment, I tried to think of something to say. Something kinda snappy and silly. But Vinyl was clearly lost in thought… always something cooking, indeed.

As she looked out over the crowd, I could only look at her.

I felt this way often. Whenever Vinyl started to talk about music, I was mesmerized. Whenever she laid on her back, staring up at the ceiling and mouthing along to the words of her favorite song, I couldn't tear my eyes away. Sometimes, late at night, I would startle awake and just watch her, studying the exact texture of her mane, the precise curve of her neck, the ridges of her horn.

Now, as Vinyl surveyed this room full of friends and family, all I could see was the simple silver ring glimmering against her white horn.

Suddenly, she looked back at me. "What are you looking at?"

I smiled. "You."

Vinyl didn't say anything. She just stared back into my eyes.

In those eyes, I saw a hundred visions of the future. I saw the bright and sparkling eyes of newborn foals. I saw mornings together, and mornings apart. I saw late nights spent side by side and fueled by coffee. I saw challenges and monsters and magic.

But, mostly, I just saw her.

The semicolon is an unusual punctuation mark.

Firstly, it is never truly necessary. Unlike the common period, or the stately comma, some fancy grammatical hoofwork can remove the need for a semicolon entirely. Or, if you don’t care about grammar, you can always replace it with a period.

Secondly, those who do use the semicolon are apt to use it incorrectly. This is because, while the semicolon is a recognizable punctuation mark, its point is rarely discussed. It is not simply a long pause, nor it is a differently-shaped colon; it is a mark all on its own, used to describe the relationship between two sentences which are different, yet connected. It says “this sentence is not over, but it’s gone on far long enough. Let’s try something new together.”

Not over; just separate from the beginning.

Author's Note

I think there's something really beautiful about ending a story with a semicolon. It gives the chance to revisit that story, should it be deemed necessary or wanted. However, it also gives you all the chance to complete the sentence for yourselves.

I've finished my thought. Thanks for listening :twilightsmile:

Age

"I think I'm too old for this…"

"Twilight, we're the same age," Rainbow said, prodding me along like I was nothing other than distracted livestock.

I shuffled my hooves, marching in place, turning slowly from side to side. No, no, that sounds far too deliberate; it was more like I was tripping over my own hooves. I even stepped on my own tail once or twice, and that was all while trying to stand still!

Every few steps, Rainbow would jab me in the flank towards our destination. It was friendly, but only just.

I leaned backwards and dug my hooves into the pavement. "My teachers always said I was an old soul!"

"That's just a fancy way of saying that you bummed out all the other foals!" Rainbow said. She poked my flank again, and I jolted forward another step. "Look, you promised! You don't have to do anything other than just sit around."

"But I--"

"You can even read if you want, egghead!"

"In there?!" I said, pointing to our destination.

Rainbow glared at me with a gaze that could melt steel.

I looked ahead. Though it was night, you could have mistaken it for high noon on a clear day with all the light streaming out of the building ahead. Well... I suppose if you were entirely colorblind, you could have.

It looked like a prison. Just a dull, grey, concrete cube, covered in graffiti. Probably commissioned graffiti.

The front doors were propped open, though seemingly for no other reason than to torture the entire of downtown Ponyville. It was guarded by two massive unicorn stallions, seemingly enforcing some sort of fire code capacity limit on the place.

A line of ponies snaked around the building, held back by a velvet rope. There were easily enough to fill the club several times over. They were decked out in multicolored t-shirts, bracelets, headbands, and many other accessories I couldn't even name, some of them to the point where I may not have recognized them if I saw them on the street.

I whined and stomped my hooves some more, but Rainbow Dash was now using her head and shoulder to push me along, her wings fluttering fast enough to ruffle her own tail.

"Why couldn't Applejack do it?" I asked. The rumbling beat of the music was already shooting up through my hooves. "She always does this stuff with you!"

"Because Applejack is stuck in Appleloosa on a delivery!"

"And Pinkie Pie?" I asked. I could hear the lower tones now. They rattled my eardrums like the head of a snare. "This is kind of a party, right? Lots of… loud. Loudness. And colors. And ponies!"

Still yards away and I was already losing control of my words. How did anypony manage to think with all this noise?

Rainbow scoffed. "I already told you, Pinkie's in Manehattan for the pie-baking thing!"

"What about--"

"Twilight!" Rainbow stomped her hoof.

She stopped pushing. I stopped resisting. The music kept on pumping.

"I told you, everypony is busy!" Rainbow insisted. I'm not sure if she was yelling out of anger or yelling over the music. Maybe a bit of both. "I'm taking you because I asked you! And you agreed!"

I rubbed my foreleg with one hoof. "Well, maybe I was just feeling more adventurous the first time you asked…"

Rainbow flipped her bangs out of her eyes. "Right. More like not paying attention."

I opened my mouth to shoot back, but realized I had nothing, and instead hung my head in shame.

To be fair, I could only barely remember the question drifting into my mind underneath the prose of an engaging epic poem-- perhaps I hadn't thought about it as much as I should have. After all, anything sounds possible when you're reading an epic poem.

I hooked my hoof into the single blue glowstick around my neck. Its light was but a disappointing, sickly aura against my fur when compared to the electric strobing lights ahead of us. "Can't you just not drink tonight?"

"Well if I didn't have you sign up to be my designated flier, I wouldn't have had anything to drink," Rainbow said. She suddenly smiled and threw up a hoof, as if in celebration. "But you're here!"

I chuckled. "I'm here…"

"And so is Neon Lights!"

"Yeah... right…" I looked nervously at the door. "Neon Lights…"

"One night only!" Rainbow reminded me. She was starting to look antsy, too, her voice more pleading than anything.

I looked back at her. She looked… well. I don't wanna say desperate, but honestly that was it. She shuffled her hooves ever so slightly, like a filly running in place.

"Right," I agreed. "One night only..."

"I promise you'll have fun!" Rainbow saw her opening and gave me a playful punch on the shoulder. "Don't knock it 'til you try it, Twi! You like books so much… I mean-- I dunno. You can be artsy sometimes! This is an artsy thing. There's artsy ponies in there!"

I glanced towards the club's entrance. Bright, saturated colored lights were pouring from the inside, shifting slowly from one hue to the next. On major beats, the color would change rapidly. Even from the other side of the club's cinderblock wall, the music felt like a physical shockwave of sound which rippled my very skin.

That long, long line of ponies--most of already moderately buzzed or even outwardly tipsy--which we got to bypass due to Rainbow Dash's Wonderbolt status, and my princesshood. Lucky us.

It didn't seem all that artsy to me.

The whole club scene felt like an assault to the senses; blow out your ears with music, blind yourself with strobe lights, burn your throat with alcohol, tire yourself with dance… plug your nose so you don't have to smell the vomit.

"I dunno…" I shuffled my hooves.

"Well, there's only one way to know, egghead," Rainbow clapped me on the shoulder again, this time hard enough to cause me to stumble forward.

Rainbow belonged here. She looked like a member of the crowd, for sure: glowstick jewelry on every limb, her mane looking even spiker and somehow more vibrant than usual, stripes of rainbow-hued make-up under each eye like a pro hoofball player. One of the scary ones.

I, on the other hoof, did not fit in in the least. I looked exactly as I did every day, with the additional donated glowstick from Rainbow's collection. Before we left, I had debated packing some snacks, and perhaps grabbing a pair of eyeglasses to better appreciate the onstage performer from a greater distance.

We neared the prison-- I mean, the club. My hooves carried me forward all on their own now. My only instinct was to stay close to Rainbow Dash.

I could already feel the powerful waves of vertigo-inducing anxiety washing over me. Curse my inability to tear myself away from my book…

I always ended up in situations like this. Always agreeing to things I didn't mean to agree to, always dismissing things I shouldn't have dismissed. Despite it all, I found that my hooves were walking me forward, that the lights were wrapping me up in their entrancing glow, the music thundering through my very bones.

Stepping into the club was like stepping through the side of a bubble. If I'd thought things were overwhelming from the sidewalk, they were crippling from inside.

I looked over at Rainbow Dash. Her eyes were all lit up like a foal on her birthday.

She turned to me and shouted something, though I could only see her lips moving.

"WHAT?!" I shouted back.

Rainbow leaned in close to my ear and cupped her hoof in front of her snout. "FRONT?" She asked.

I looked towards the "front" of the crowd. A million--no, a billion! Two billion!--ponies all jumbled together, bouncing off one another like pinballs off bumpers, screaming and shouting and jumping up and down and--

I shook my head vigorously. Rainbow tossed her head back and laughed, loud enough that I could catch her highest squeals. She wrapped a leg around my shoulders and pointed me towards a darkened, empty corner. A red couch ran along the wall for a few yards. It looked… clean. And comfortable. And quiet.

Quieter, at least.

Rainbow pointed to the corner, then tapped my chest with her hoof. I looked up at her. She grinned.

I smiled back. Judging by Rainbow's reaction, it was not a convincing one.

She gave me another pat on the chest, I guess in an effort to calm me down, and began backing towards the stage. As she did so, she started monologuing. I imagined that she was saying something about the nature of art and experience, or about how this is what ponies thought of speakeasies in the old days, or maybe about how proud she was of me for being adventurous and trying something new. In reality, it was probably some specific instructions about what drinks were best at the bar.

Satisfied with her pep talk, Rainbow saluted me, then shot up over the crowd and dove into the very front, where it seemed the ponies were risking life and limb to… to what? To hear the music? The music that could be heard from low orbit?

Her head popped back up out of the crowd. She was beaming, loving the thrill of being thrown from sweaty pony to sweaty pony.

One of the lights swept over me, and I felt momentarily exposed. Like a filly at her first talent show, thrust into the too-hot spotlight, standing like an awkward ballerina and shivering uncontrollably.

But the light passed, and I was in the dark once more.

Just me and the music.

The horrible, teeth-shattering, ground-quaking, ear-bursting music.

I trudged over to the dark corner and flopped down on the couch. It was pretty comfortable, all things considered. I couldn't help but be fascinated by my inability to hear my own hoofsteps, or the sound of the couch cushions hissing as they settled.

I closed my eyes. The music was certainly more complicated up close, I could give it that. It wasn’t just the pulsing beat and single chords that seeped through the stone to the sidewalk. There were hints of melodies, little recurring themes that danced above the bottom line, a long and rising drone which built and built and built and--

A tap on the shoulder.

I nearly leapt out of my skin.

Beside me stood a unicorn.

She really split the difference between Rainbow and I, I thought. Her mane was spiked, and she was wearing purple-tinted shades, but not much else screamed 'club'. If I'd passed her on the street, I wouldn't have thought she was… well, anything, really.

And yet she seemed very comfortable here.

Not much more daring in her fashion than me, and yet so relaxed. So at home.

How could anypony be so unabashedly confident?

She held out her hoof. Or, I suppose, she had been holding out her hoof this whole time, and tried to direct my attention towards it with a little prodding motion.

In it were two small, orange pellets.

I recoiled and shook my head. “No!” I mouthed. “I don’t take recreational drugs!” I explained, over-enunciating every syllable.

She seemed to chuckle. Using her magic, she lifted one of the pellets and mimed putting it into her ear.

I blushed furiously. Earplugs, you dope.

The mare moved her hoof a little closer to my face, and I sheepishly took the plugs from her.

It was amazing. I forced the plug into my ear, and suddenly it was like all the world's sharp edges had melted. Had I not known better, I would have told you that the whole scene was playing off a radio, or perhaps from the neighbor's garage.

“Better?” the mare asked. Her voice was clear and sharp, if lower than the average mare's.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “I can hear!” I shouted. I put a hoof over my mouth, embarrassed by my volume.

The mare only laughed. “It’s a spell! Traces the source of a sound and muffles anything originating from further than a few yards.” She sat down next to me on the couch. “Neat, huh?”

I put a hoof up to my ear and felt around a bit. What I thought I would find, I have no idea. “Genius… ” I mumbled. "Why didn't I think of that?"

The mare smiled to herself, but did not respond. She instead took a seat beside me on the couch and looked out at the crowd. She took a deep, calm breath, and began to bob her head to the beat of the music. Though I couldn't see her eyes behind the shades, I felt certain that they were shut.

With her sitting so close, I could see the hint of an orange pellet deep in her own ear.

“You too?” I asked.

She paused her musical meditation, the tiniest bit of shock registering on her face, as if she hadn’t expected me to speak to her again. “Earplugs?" I nodded. "Yeah. These kinds of places are usually too much for me, but I like the music. Hence the shades.” She tapped the frames of her dark glasses. I imagined what it might be like to see this event through such heavily-tinted lenses. The lights softer, the colors muted.

“Huh,” I said. “Smart.”

“Surprised?”

“A little bit,” I mumbled. “Not that you're smart, I mean! That you-- well, you look-- well. You belong here, I guess. More than I do.” I looked down at my own sad, lonely glowstick necklace.

She shrugged. “It’s like research. I'm sure you get that. I'm here for research, not pleasure.” She peeked at me over her shades. Her eyes were a vibrant red. “I write music, you know.”

I had to suppress a snort of laughter. So cheesey… “Oh, do you?”

She pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, y'know. A little here, a little there. If you wanna be at the cutting edge of the music scene, you come to a place like this.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Really?”

She nodded sincerely. “Oh, yeah.”

“Not, say, a school?” I pressed.

She scoffed. “Schools teach old stuff. Why would you go to a school for something new?”

I scowled at her. "I'm actually a firm believer in 'learn the rules before you break them.'"

I couldn't quite see her roll her eyes, but she rolled her head to make sure I didn't miss it. "That's so-- why would you do that? Learning the rules is still learning the rules! How can you do anything original if all your… I dunno, your creative space, I guess, is full of rules?"

"So you're a surrealist?" I asked.

"Don't--" she scoffed, shook her head. She kept sneaking little side glances at me, looking me up and down… I could just barely make out her pupils through the side of her glasses. "You're using fancy words to-- if you wanna learn something new, why would you ever learn the rules?"

A little giggle escaped. "Exactly. Surreal artists believe that creativity shouldn't be bound by any rules at all; you should write words just because they sound good together, make paintings to touch instead of look at… rethink the structure of art itself."

"Oh." The mare sat back. Her bottom lip stuck out a little bit, and she nodded herself. "Well, then, those guys must be really smart."

"Sure," I said. "Or crazy."

She thought about that, then laughed. "Maybe crazy."

We were quiet for a moment. The underlying drone of the music had risen to an almost unbearably high whine, finally sustaining… and suddenly diving back down to a powerful chord. Everything stopped. I'm sure not for long, but it felt like forever. When the music came back, it was softer. A sort of calm at the eye of the storm.

"I would think that, if you really wanted to hear something new, you'd want to go to a jazz club," I said.

She scoffed. "You sound like my marefriend."

"And what do you say to her?" I asked.

"That anypony can pluck a string and make a sound come out," she said. "But stuff like this… you have to know all the technology and the math and everything to make anything at all. It makes it… well, you have to think more about it than those guys who are just-- well, y'know!"

She made a grimace, hunched her shoulders, and began to mime playing the piano, mostly sweeping glissandos up and down the entirety of her invisible keyboard.

I laughed, perhaps a little too loud, and pressed a hoof over my mouth. It took me a moment to remember that nopony but my mystery mare could hear me over the ruckus.

Mystery mare stopped her miming and gave me a sideways smirk. Very subtle. Almost like she didn't want me to see it.

"I think you're underestimating jazz musicians," I finally managed to say, holding back laughter all the while.

She shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. All I know is that I let my marefriend try out my equipment and she could only make it sound like robots goin' at it." She paused her, flipped her mane, adjusted her glasses. "I, on the other hoof, nailed the opening to Crazy Train on her cello in under ten minutes."

"Tsk. Playing somepony else's song?" I playfully shook my head. "That sure sounds like playing by the rules to me."

"If you think Oxxy Oxbourne is playing by the rules, you have a lot to learn about music," she said, firm and serious as ever. "I should lend you a CD sometime, princess."

I smiled. "I'd like that."

She looked down at her hooves and laughed. I thought I detected the tiniest falter in her voice. "Alright, I-I'll hit you up sometime."

I didn't exactly know what to say to that. Everypony in Equestria knew where I lived, after all-- it seemed silly to tell her.

Our conversation ended there. We sat next to one another for a while longer-- maybe a few minutes, maybe an hour or two. I hate to admit it, but I was too distracted by the music to notice.

I wouldn't have said as much to Rainbow, but my mystery mare was right about the music: it was new, it was exciting, it was cutting edge. It was exciting every time, different around every turn. Even though it was the same stallion using the same machine, every song sounded different. Each minute was a new experience.

It wasn't entirely unlike magic, I decided. A crossing of science and art. Mathematics powered by emotion. Intention directed by creativity.

Still too loud for my taste, though.

Nevermind

Alright.

Friendship lesson.

What have I learned from dabbling in spying? That it was really hard? That… it was actually hard to get any useful information that way?

Did spies usually do multiple missions? It seemed like they always got what they needed pretty fast in books.

That's… not a friendship lesson.

More of a logistical lesson.

Friendship lesson.

Friendship lesson…

Wow, that sounds funny now.

Uh…

Spying is wrong?

Let's give it a shot:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that, if your friends are keeping something from you, it's probably for a good reason. Even if it isn't, you really shouldn't go looking for the thing they're hiding-- it can only make things worse. And finding out things you wish you didn't know sucks. It sucks bad.

But also… ponies shouldn't hide things from you, y'know? So I really have no idea what I was supposed to do in this situation. Isn't it better to just be honest? Even if it's hard?

That's what Applejack would do, anyway.

Do you have any advice? I know I don't normally write to you in the middle of a problem. I usually wait until it's solved. But I could really use your insight, here. I feel like I just keep making things worse.

Let me know what you come up with.

Faithfully yours,

Moonlight Spackle

"Not bad," she said. "But you probably wanna make sure you get your own name right."

Normally I would have jolted, but I mysteriously did not have the energy to do so just now. I lifted a hoof to my lips and realized, with some shock, that I had been monologuing.

I managed to roll my head to the left about an inch and crack one eye open.

"Vinyl?"

She grinned. "Hey, Twilight. That's your name by the way. Seems like you forgot it." She looked tired--little dark circles under her eyes, a kind of sleepy flush in her cheeks--but happy. Happy enough, that is.

I closed my eyes again. "I can't feel my eyebrows…"

"Yeah, that's probably--"

"Or my forehead. Or my ears. Or--" I gasped. "My horn! Did I lose my horn in the accident?"

Vinyl looked like she was trying not to laugh. I have absolutely no idea what she could have possibly found funny about this. "You have a concussion, Twi. They gave you some kinda numbing potion thing." She held up the bottle of blue liquid on my bedside table. "It's the good stuff. I'm surprised you're awake, to be honest."

She put the bottle back down on my bedside table.

My bedside table!

I gasped and tried to push myself up, but it was like my legs were moving through honey.

"Whoa!" Vinyl shot forward to stop me. "What's going on? You gonna boot?"

"My room!" I shouted.

"What about it?" Vinyl asked, matching the urgency of my tone.

"You're in it!"

Vinyl paused, then sat back down in her chair. "I hope that's okay. I asked you earlier, and you… you said it was."

"I do not remember that, sir," I said.

"Understood." Vinyl nodded. "May I stay in your room, please, sir?"

I thought it over, but mostly my brain was just loud colors and hot words right now. I figured it was probably safe. "You may."

"Ah, what a relief." Vinyl relaxed in her chair, now that it was rightfully hers. "Fluttershy went out to get you some soup a few minutes ago. Are you hungry?"

"Hm." I put a hoof on my stomach and waited patiently for a rumble to tell me I was hungry. Vinyl was somehow confused by this extremely obvious action. "I don't feel a kick."

Vinyl actually did chuckle at this one. "Okay, well, when you do feel a kick, there'll be soup. Sound good?"

"Meh."

"Damn. Harsh, Twi."

I stared up at the ceiling. I felt very floaty-good. Like my brain didn't have to stay in my head anymore. Which was nice, because I think my head was probably tired of my brain by now.

It didn't really matter what stuff happened and in what order. All that mattered is that I was laying here now, and Vinyl was here now, and my brain was on vacation so I could do what I wanted.

Or maybe my brain was in the hospital?

What happens when you have a concussion again?

"Vinyl?" I asked.

"What's up, Twi?"

"I'm sorry I spied on you," I said. "That's not cool, I dunno why I did that. Not cool."

Vinyl chuckled. "You know, I was pretty mad at first, but I think I put you in a weird situation."

"You did!" I agreed. I waved a hoof for emphasis, which Vinyl skillfully dodged. "You-- you wouldn't talk to me. I need to talk things out, you know."

"Oh, I know it."

"Why wouldn't you talk to me, Vinyl?" I asked. "We talk about everything, so why wouldn't you talk about this?"

Vinyl sighed. "I dunno."

"You have to know."

"Well, I don't, okay?"

"But you have to!"

Vinyl put her face in her hooves. "Alright, alright. Let me think."

I looked over at the clock on the wall. I couldn't read it, of course; but have you ever noticed how fun it is to watch clocks? The way they spin around, but at different speeds, at the same time? And how all the clocks in the whole world move the same way? How do they do that? Who figured that out? I should read about clocks sometime.

"I think…"

I turned my head back to Vinyl.

She sighed. "There's no chance you'll remember this, but here goes: I think I was scared that I'd throw away my relationship with Octavia if I talked to you."

I blinked.

"She's… I dunno. Things with us have been weird lately." Vinyl hung her head. "And I didn't talk to you because I was worried I'd talk myself into giving up on her."

I thought that over. But it was hard to think. I figured she was saying something pretty heavy, since she was hanging her head and all.

"Oh," I said.

"You have a lot of influence over me right now, I'll be honest," Vinyl said, shaking her head. She laughed a bit, but it didn't seem like a real laugh.

"I do?"

She nodded. "I dunno what it is. Maybe it's because you're a princess, or because of your magic, or-- I dunno." She hung her head again.

I didn't say anything.

I guess Vinyl was done. Or, at least, she couldn't think of anything else to say. She just sat there in the chair, her body slowly waving back and forth, like she was swaying to music I couldn't hear.

"Do you hear music?" I asked.

Vinyl frowned. "Do you hear music?"

I shook my head, very very slowly. "Why are you dancing?"

"I'm definitely not dancing, Twi." Vinyl's body continued to undulate.

"Well, then, why are you wiggling at me?" I asked. I pointed at the part that was waving.

Vinyl sighed. "I think you'd better get some rest, huh? Why don't I go?" She started to get up from her chair.

"No!" I shouted.

Vinyl stopped where she was.

"I like it when you're here," I said. "Why did you stay?"

Vinyl sat slowly back down in her chair. She was smiling now, but smiling in a sad way. Did you know ponies can do that? They can smile and still be sad?

Vinyl shrugged. "I… I felt bad. I feel like I put you through this with all the… everything."

"Everything?" I repeated. The word sounded funny in my mouth.

"You know, with the speakeasy and game night and the… bookstore…" She looked down at her lap. "I think I made you feel like you were something you're not. And it led to… this." She gestured to my head.

I blinked. Is it just me, or was she using a lot of big words? I had to translate all of them and it was very slow.

"So, I guess I just wanted to say… nevermind."

"Say it."

"No, that's it: nevermind. Just… nevermind all that stuff." Vinyl waved her hoof as if she were wiping it all away. "I'm sorry I treated you like that, okay? It's not cool, especially not when I'm dating somepony else. So just nevermind. Don't worry about it."

"Don't… worry?" I cocked my head.

"Just-- I'm sorry. And you shouldn't have to think about it anymore." Vinyl said. She was sounding more aggravated, now. Like she didn't want to talk about this. "Things were bad with Octavia and I-- I shouldn't have kissed you. That was a stupid thing to do, so I take it back."

Take it back?

You can't take back a kiss.

It's a kiss it's a thing you did. You can't take back a thing you already did.

"But…" I sighed. "Well, but…"

Vinyl shook her head. "Just forget about it, okay? I didn't mean anything by it."

"But it…"

Come on, Twilight!

The words are right there.

Should they even come out? Should I even be thinking those words? What will I do to Vinyl if I say them? What will she do to me?

Will it really make me feel better? Will it make my brain feel less hot and swollen?

"But it was our kiss," I said. "And I meant it."

I wonder if time stopped for Vinyl the way it stopped for me.

For a second, I was so relieved that everything stopped melting and I felt really light. Like my brain had finally finished whirring and just said it already, y'know? It was good. It was a second of bliss.

The next second, though? Yikes. Talk about regret.

I watched Vinyl's face go through this whole range of emotion. First her eyes got wide, which I guess was just shock that I managed to get out a smart sentence like that.

Then her face sort of brightened for a second, like somepony was shining a light right in my face, and I squinted.

Then it half-crumpled, half-melted. She was sad.

"What?" I asked.

"You don't even know what you're saying," Vinyl said. She was shaking her head a lot, I guess to hide the sad from me. "You're all drugged up."

"No, I mean it!" I said.

"No, no," Vinyl said. She stood up, and started gathering her things. "You've got a concussion and you're on crazy pain meds. I shouldn't even be talking to you right now, who knows how you'll remember it."

"But…"

"Fluttershy will be back soon, okay?" Vinyl said. She smiled at me, but in a way I didn't like. Like she felt sorry for me. "Just don't worry about all this. We can talk it over some other time."

"But, Vinyl…"

"Goodbye, Twilight."

Vinyl trotted to the door and closed it behind her.

My brain let out a long sigh of relief and slithered onto the cool floor.

I wanted her to be here. I wanted it so bad. But when she was here… things were bad. She made me feel guilty. Not on purpose. But she did.

But I liked her so much. So much. I had just never felt this way before… was the hurt normal? Was that how real, big, serious crushes felt? Did they hurt like this?

It took everything I had to roll over onto my side.

The potion on my bedside table swirled and tumbled very slowly. There was this sort of glittery ribbon of something milky-white running through it… milky-white with a little yellow undertone… And some sparkly flecks of ruby-red…

I blinked.

Hm.

It seemed green now.

I decided to just close my eyes and let the colors in my head swirl around instead.

Thinking right now was like fighting through the thick underbrush of the jungle. Hard. Hot. Full of bugs, probably. Kinda damp. Making me sweat a bit. Maybe a lot.

Maybe I should go back to sleep.

I wondered idly where Vinyl would go.

My stomach twisted.

Did she have anywhere to go at all?