The alarm blared at ten in the morning, and to Vinyl’s own surprise, she was awake, albeit her usual groggy, bored self. “What’s that, clock? Two more hours wouldn’t hurt? Well, if you say so…”

“Vinyl, come on downstairs!” called Golden Voice. “I’ve got something to show you!”

Vinyl groaned, knowing the consequences of not answering to her father’s call. She immediately shot up and rushed down the stairs. ‘No more History of Classical Equestrian Music! I’m not doing that ever again!’ In her haste to reach the bottom floor, Vinyl nearly bolted past her father and out the door. Thinking on instinct she slammed her front hooves into the ground, skidding to a halt. She quickly turned back around to meet Golden Voice eye-to-eye. “You wanted something, dad?”

“I’m actually glad you’re up this early, kiddo,” Golden Voice beamed. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Vinyl groaned. “The last time you told me that, I was stuck with half a year of violin lessons. The year before that, it was piano, and before that it was the xylophone, and the guitar and the electric triangle and-“

“I promise you’re going to like this surprise,” her father interrupted, using his magic to pull the drawer behind the counter open. “This is something you’ll actually be able to use. I promise.”

‘Well, it’s definitely not a new, louder radio if it can fit in that drawer,’ Vinyl thought. ‘What did the old man get me now?’

Golden Voice released his arcane grip on the drawer and pulled something out of it. In Vinyl’s half-asleep daze, she thought she was seeing things, but after a double take she noticed exactly what it was: a train ticket. But it wasn’t just any train ticket…it was-

“Is that…a Year-Round Pass for the Equestrian Express?” Vinyl’s eyes widened as she gazed upon the ticket. “B-but…how-“

“I figured out a good use for that money,” answered her father. “This pass will allow you to go wherever you want across all of Equestria for an entire year.”

“But…why would you get me this?” she asked. “I’ve done nothing but waste space around here.”

“Because you said you didn’t know what you wanted to be,” Golden voice replied. “This will let you find out, Vinyl Scratch. You can finally discover your talent.”

Vinyl’s smile grew wider than ever before. The marble unicorn felt a rain of tears of joy filling her eyes as she wrapped both forelegs around her father, hugging him tightly. “Thank you so much, dad,” she replied, her voice cracking a bit. “I know I’ve never done anything to help you around the shop or anything, but-“

“I never wanted you to help me with the shop unless you wanted to,” said Golden Voice. “Only two things matter to me. You’re my daughter. That’s the first. The second is that you’ve finally shown your drive to get out of this snob-filled city and see the world for what it is!”

“Have you been talking to Bonnie? I said those exact same words to her yesterday.”

“Actually, that’s part of the reason I managed to come upon this ticket,” Golden Voice replied. “Almond Joy came in after you went to sleep and told me that Bon-Bon is doing the exact same thing.”

Vinyl smiled, her face now holding an expression of sheer excitement. “No way, Bonnie’s going too? Oh, man, I’ve gotta meet up with her at the station! We can travel together! I was gonna hit Ponyville first anyway. Oh, this is gonna be great! I’ve gotta go pack!” The young unicorn mare bolted back upstairs, and her father could hear her tearing her drawers apart. “Okay, now where are my shades, my backup shades and my backup shades for the backup shades?” Golden Voice chuckled as he returned to his daily post behind the counter, awaiting the usual, although few in number, customers.

Vinyl came barreling down the stairs again; this time with a suitcase in her magic’s tow. She had on her signature shades and had her mane and tail spiked in several places. “I can’t believe this is really happening…this is finally happening! I’m gonna take Equestria by storm!”

“I’m sure you are, kiddo,” Golden Voice added with a light laugh. “But not without this.” He levitated the train ticket over to Vinyl and passed it off to her magical grasp. “Now, remember, you can always come back if you’re finding things aren’t what you expected.”

“I know, dad.” Vinyl moved in to hug her father. “I don’t think it’ll be so tough. I mean, come on…you raised me to be strong, right?”

“That’s right,” Golden Voice replied, planting a light kiss on Vinyl’s forehead. “And don’t ever forget that, kiddo. Now go out there and make the world remember your name.”

Vinyl nodded excitedly and stepped back a bit, taking a moment simply to take in her last memory of home for a long time. She turned to the door and began walking out. “I love you dad.”

“I love you too, Vinyl. Make me proud, but more importantly, make Vinyl Scratch proud.”

Vinyl marched out the door proudly, luggage at her side. She was ready to take on the world.

“Heya, Bonnie!”

Vinyl Scratch came running up to the train station where her friend Bon-Bon stood with her own suitcases. The confectioner smiled as the marble unicorn trotted up to join her. “So, this is really happening, huh?”

“Pinched myself every minute while I was walking over here just to make sure it was,” Vinyl replied. “We’re finally living our dreams…kinda. I mean, I get to travel, and you’re finally gonna get to see Lyra again.”

Bon-Bon seemed to fall into a state of deep, dream-like thought when Vinyl mentioned Lyra. Vinyl noticed this and performed the one action that she knew could snap her friend out of this state: clapping her hooves together in front of her eyes. “Yo, Bonnie, stay with me! You kinda spaced out there for a second.”

“O-oh…Sorry about that, Vinyl. I guess I’m still thinking about Lyra’s offer.”

Vinyl’s head tilted to the side in confusion. “What offer?”

Bon-Bon nervously waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, it’s really no big deal. It isn’t anything to worry about, honestly. I mean, she just kinda…asked if I wanted to move in with her.”

“Wait, what now?” Vinyl stared at her friend in shock. “You…aren’t really considering it, are you, Bonnie?”

“I’ve…put some thought into it,” admitted Bon-Bon. “I mean, I’ve never really been too happy staying in Canterlot myself. I love my parents, don’t get me wrong, but I think a nice, simple, rural lifestyle might be a decent change. So I’m going to tell Lyra I’ll stay with her for a week, and if I like it, I’ll write my parents telling them I’m staying. That’s what this whole trip is for anyway, isn’t it? Aren’t we traveling to try new things?”

“I guess you’re right,” acknowledged Vinyl. “But we’re still BFFs right?”

“We established the code, didn’t we? Best Friends Forever means forever.”

Vinyl nodded. “Right.”

A deep, loud horn sounded out as the train pulled into the station. As Vinyl and Bon-Bon began walking, the marble unicorn lifted up both her and Bon-Bon’s bags in her magic aura. The confectioner nodded thankfully as the two boarded the train and showed their passes to the conductor. The two friends were allowed into the car and moved towards a pair of seats close to the door. The seats they claimed had two small compartments beneath them just the right size for the suitcases. Vinyl and Bon-Bon took their seats just as the engineer blew the train’s whistle and released the brake handle, setting the train in motion to Ponyville. The billowing smoke puffed out of the smokestack as the coal engine vehicle pulled its pace up to its maximum of thirty miles per hour. The rhythm of the train rolling along the tracks was more than enough to lull Vinyl Scratch into a light repose. It wasn’t long after she’d drifted off before Bon-Bon was nudging her to awaken.

“C’mon, Vinyl, the train’s pulling in!”

“That’s…what she said,” Vinyl mumbled, partially drunk on twilight sleep.

“Don’t make me kick your flank off this train myself, Vinyl Scratch!”

“Ugh, fine.” Vinyl pulled herself out of her daze and rose up from the seat all while absentmindedly taking both hers and Bon-Bon’s luggage from beneath the chairs and heading out through the train car door. “Whoa.”

Simple as it was, Ponyville wasn’t anything like Vinyl thought it would be. The biggest surprise was that it wasn’t as much a bumpkin town as she’d heard the snobs in Canterlot call it constantly. Of course, she figured that was all talk anyway. For once, Vinyl breathed in fresh, smog-free air and couldn’t help but continue to take it all in.

“Vinyl, snap out of it!” shouted Bon-Bon. “We’ve got to make room for the other ponies boarding the train, you know.”

Bon-Bon’s call brought Vinyl back in control. She gave her friend a nod and a grin as the two set off into Ponyville. Vinyl took in all the sights, from the library to the bakery and even a rather large, elegant, almost Canterlot-like-

“…There is no possible way that’s-“

“Vinyl, darling, is it truly you?!”

Vinyl’s eyes widened. “Oh, Celestia, here we go.”

Vinyl found herself pulled into a bone-crushing hug by none other than her cousin, younger than her only by a few years, Rarity. The alabaster unicorn released her death grip on Vinyl and stepped back a bit. “Oh, how long has it been, Vinyl? It feels as if ages have passed since we’ve last seen one another! How have you been? How has Canterlot been treating you? Oh and how is Uncle Golden?”

“In this order,” began Vinyl as she rattled off the answers to her cousin’s barrage of questions: “Eight years, been alright, boring and full of snobs, and dad’s fine. So, looks like you’ve certainly made your mark on this little town, huh?”

Rarity sighed melodramatically. “I’m not living as lavishly as I’d hoped, Vinyl. In fact, I’m currently dealing with a…small issue of sorts.”

“What kind of ‘issue’, cuz?” asked Vinyl.

In a few short seconds, however, she received her answer as an assortment of various gemstones floated out of Rarity’s shop in a light blue magic aura. The fashionista quickly turned and rushed back inside. “Sweetie Belle, put those gems down! They don’t belong to you!” Rarity popped her head back out the door and smiled sweetly at Vinyl. “I’m so sorry about this, my dear. We’ll have to catch up some other time when I’m not foalsitting my baby sister. ‘Bundle of joy’ my flank, mom.”

Vinyl and Bon-Bon continued walking the dirt path through Ponyville. After a few more minutes, Bon-Bon seemed to light up and rushed forward to one house in particular, knocking rapidly on the door. Bon-Bon’s hooves danced anxiously as she waited for a response, and sure enough, no more than ten seconds later, the door was pulled open by a mint-green unicorn’s magic. The confectioner barely waited for the door to be opened before she tackled the unicorn to the ground in a hug. “Lyra! It’s been forever!”

“H-heya, Bonnie! You sure caught me by surprise there…” Lyra looked out the door once again and gave a simple nod to the unicorn standing outside. “Sup, Vinyl. You can come in too, y’know.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Vinyl in reply, “but I think I’m gonna leave you two alone for a bit. I wanna check out Ponyville a bit more.”

“Suit yourself,” Lyra said with a shrug. “Hey, Bonnie? You can get off me now.”

“Oh, r-right.” Bon-Bon scrambled to her feet as she turned a deep shade of red. “Sorry.”

“Damn, you’re easy to make blush,” laughed Lyra. “Good to know.”

“Yeah, I’m just gonna let you two lovebirds spend some time together. I’ll be back later. Say, Heartstrings, you mind if I crash at your place for a bit too? I don’t really know anypony else here.”

“I’ve got no problem, but only if Bonnie’s cool with it too,” answered Lyra. The mint unicorn looked to her still-blushing friend. “What do you say?”

Bon-Bon nodded, the deep red receding from her face. “Of course, as long as she doesn’t try anything funny…you won’t try anything funny, will you, Vinyl?”

Vinyl raised her hoof. “You’ve got the BFF Promise, Bonnie. Besides, I’d worry more Lyra pulling any funny business…I’ve seen what she can do with that horn of hers.”

Now it was Lyra’s turn to blush. “Damn it, Vinyl, I cannot be held accountable for what I do under the influence of Berry Moonshine!”

“You can’t, but it’s still damn funny,” Vinyl managed through roaring laughter. “Now I’m gonna let you two get reacquainted while I explore the rest of this town. Catch you sexy mares later.”

Vinyl trotted off, laughing to herself. Lyra and Bon-Bon looked at one another, bewildered. “You know,” began Bon-Bon, “for a filly with only two friends, Vinyl can be…sadistically charismatic sometimes.”

“Maybe that’s her special talent,” Lyra remarked: “Being a wise-ass.”

Vinyl wandered about the streets of Ponyville, simply looking for what she would define as a ‘good time’. The sun was almost setting and she’d been out for several hours already, yet she had discovered nothing worth looking into just yet. Sure enough, she found it in the form of a quaint little bar sitting on the corner of the street. Vinyl grinned and walked right into the tavern without a second thought and took a seat at the bar where a pinkish earth pony mare stood wiping down the counter with a wine-stained rag that had seen more than enough use. The barkeep didn’t even notice Vinyl until she cleared her throat to get her attention. The mare suddenly glanced up in surprise.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I was so busy cleaning down the bar, I couldn’t-“

“Don’t worry about it,” said Vinyl, dismissing the barkeep’s concerns. “So, what’s a place like this doing in Ponyville? I figured bars like these only existed in places like Manehatten or Las Pegasus…massive cities and stuff.”

“Well, I used to live in Las Pegasus,” replied the barkeeper mare. “But I wanted a simpler life away from all the glitz and glamour, so my friends suggested I check out Ponyville. I’ve been here for over three years now and I’ve never regretted it. By the way, the name’s Berryshine. But you can just call me Berry Punch.”

“I’m Vinyl Scratch. Wait…Berryshine…” Vinyl thought for a moment. She suddenly gasped in realization. “Wait a minute; you’re the creator of Berryshine Punch?”

The earth pony seemed slightly puzzled. “Yes, that’s mine and my father’s recipe…why?”

“Oh, man, I love that stuff!” exclaimed Vinyl. “My dad used to order it special to Canterlot every few weeks. It was a monthly tradition.”

Berry blushed a bit. “Well…thank you so much for the compliment. It’s not often that I have somepony come in and tell me how much they like my drink.”

“Speaking of, what kind of drinks you got here?”

“Anything you can think of, sans the season-only Sweet Apple Hard Cider.”

Vinyl looked around and thought for a moment. “Hmm…I don’t really think my gracious hosts are gonna want me drinking on the first day…so I’ll take the strongest stuff you’ve got!”

“Hosts?” inquired Berry Punch. “Who are you staying with?”

“My friend Bon-Bon and her ‘friend’ Lyra Heartstrings,” replied Vinyl.

“Oh, then I’m sorry but I can’t let you have any drinks,” Berry said. “I made a BFF Promise not to give alcohol to any of Lyra’s friends unless she’s with them. In fact, I think that particular request had something to do with you, Vinyl.”

“Well, that’s just great,” complained the unicorn mare. “What else can I even do in Ponyville, then?”

“Can’t help you there,” Berry replied. “Honestly, you don’t seem like the type of pony who takes things slow, so Ponyville might not really be for you at all.”

“I’m starting to figure as much,” Vinyl thought aloud. “But I owe it to Bonnie and Lyra to at least stick it out for a while. They’re my friends, and we follow the BFF Code.”

“Gotta love that code, yeah?” chuckled Berry.

“Keeps things solid between friends,” replied Vinyl with a nod. “Anyway, I guess I’ll head back to Lyra’s place. See ya around, Berry, hopefully.”

Berry Punch nodded in turn and went right back to cleaning the bar counter. “Same here,” she replied while focusing on her work. “Have a good evening, Vinyl.”

“Hold your horses, I’m coming!” Lyra yelled, hopping up off the couch and trotting over to the door.

“Lyra, why didn’t you just open it with your magic?” asked Bon-Bon.

Lyra stopped in her tracks for a moment and stared back at Bon-Bon with a deadpanned expression. “You could’ve told me that before I got up, Bonnie.”

The mint unicorn turned the door handle in her magic and pulled the door open to reveal an incredibly bummed-out Vinyl Scratch. She sighed and walked inside, drudging past Lyra and Bon-Bon and just collapsing on the floor.

“Vinyl…are you okay?” Bon-Bon asked.

“Did you even do anything today?” asked Lyra in turn. “You look like you just kinda…wandered. Did you talk to anypony or anything?”

Vinyl groaned, not wanting to continue this conversation but fully aware she had to. “I met Berry Punch, but it got late and everypony else was already home. This is the time when the clubs would open up back in Canterlot and-“

Vinyl stopped herself, scrambling up off the floor and scoffing. “Pfft, screw Canterlot! I don’t need to go back to that boring, snob-filled city. I’ll be perfectly fine here in Ponyville! I can fit into tiny little place like this! You’ll see!” Vinyl stormed off in a huff, heading to the rooms upstairs. Lyra glanced over at Bon-Bon, concerned.

“Okay, she’s worse off than your letter said,” the unicorn said. “Like, she’s really losing it. I can tell.”

“But what can we do?” Bon-Bon asked. “She’s too stubborn to give this up so quickly. We’d literally have to force her onto the next train to…anywhere else!”

Lyra paused, taking in Bon-Bon’s last statement. Her face suddenly lit up with a grin so evil it would rival Discord’s. The confectioner looked back at her friend with worry. “Lyra…you can’t really be considering-“

“We’re going to do what’s right for our friend,” declared Lyra. “Whether she knows it or not!”

Author's Note

Peoples who are following this story, hear me!

Kay, so, I write, but not as often as I'd like to. I've kinda lost my drive lately, but because of the 50+ faves I got on this story within a week of posting Chapter 1, I was PSYCHED to get back into it, but I need more than just people following the story. This is the obligatory 'whoring myself out' Author's Notes post. If you like this story, I'd certainly appreciate the watch as well! I plan on pumping out some other stories (not necessarily shipping, I'm trying to diversify my styles) when I can manage my time better (EX: less/no school, vacations and whatnot.)

So, there. Done with the shameless self-promotion. Carry on.