Leaving Manehattan
Harmonia and Long Play walked in silence, their hooves beating a steady rhythm. Long Play kept his eyes fixed firmly forward, largely ignoring the mare beside him. Harmonia shivered. The sun had long since begun its descent, bringing the first hints of the chill that came with night.
“Did you pack your scarf?” blurted Harmonia.
Long Play’s brow furrowed slightly. He nodded.
“Good.” Harmonia tried for a smile. So did Long Play.
They walked on in silence.
“Does Manehattan always get this cold?”
Long Play shrugged. “It’s almost winter. Canterlot’s getting kind of cold too.”
“Yes, but not as cold as here.”
Another shrug. “I guess that I’m just used to it. I like the cold.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
Harmonia nodded a few times. “I didn’t think that anypony actually liked the cold.”
“I do.”
“How strange.”
Long Play’s brow furrowed further. “Why?”
Harmonia was silent for a few moments, her eyes roaming over the streets of Manehattan. There were a few other ponies walking around, some of them in groups, some alone, others resting on doorsteps. Yet, and this was the strangest part, it still felt like she were alone with Long Play. Alone in an evening chill.
It was rather nice.
“Well,” said Harmonia, “we’re not really built for the cold, are we? Ponies seek out warmth. Just look at Hearth’s Warming! Equestria was founded in a drive to keep out the cold. We find comfort in places that keep us warm. Houses, beds, campfires, scarves, other ponies--”
“Other ponies?” asked Long Play with a smirk.
Harmonia stared at him for a while. A slight blush spread over her face. “Don’t be perverse!”
Long Play put on a mask of innocence. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean!”
“I was talking about hugging!”
Harmonia scowled, firmly sticking her nose in the air with a hmph. “I try to make small talk and this is what I get.”
“To be fair, that wasn’t very good small talk.”
“Oh, shut up!”
Long Play laughed, a slightly strained sound. A pause. Then Long Play swerved slightly, bumping into Harmonia. “But I know what you mean,” he said. “The best part of the cold is finding a way to stay warm.”
Harmonia nodded. “Something of the sort.”
“Alright,” said Long Play with a nod of his own. Another pause. A wind blew across the Manehattan streets.
Harmonia shivered.
Long Play’s suitcase opened, a two-tone red scarf rose snaked its way out of the luggage. “Cold?” he asked, with the barest trace of a smile.
***
Manehattan Station in the evening. It was a gamble, really. There were days when it felt like everything had been reserved just for a few ponies and days where you could hardly take a step for all the bodies cramped into the place.
This evening was definitely the former.
Harmonia and Long Play sat in the lobby, largely silent as the clock on the wall ticked on.
“I thought that there’d be more of a line,” said Long Play.
“I suppose that we’re a bit early.”
“Yeah.” Long Play rubbed at the back of his head. “Sorry about that.”
Harmonia smiled softly. “It’s not your fault. I chose to be here, didn’t I?”
“Only because Gramma asked you to.”
“Oh, I would have come along anyway.” Harmonia winced slightly, the words coming faster than her thoughts.
“Really?” asked Long Play.
Crap. Harmonia looked towards the floor. “Well, I certainly wasn’t going to let you leave without a send off. That would be impolite.”
The colt smiled. “That’s very kind of you, Harmonia.”
“It’s true!” exclaimed the mare, her head snapping up to look at Long Play.
“I never said it wasn’t.”
“Well, you certainly implied it,” she said with a huff.
Long Play chuckled. “You’re adorable.”
Harmonia turned pink, her gaze falling back towards the floor. “Shut up.”
“Make me.” Long Play stuck his tongue out at Harmonia. Harmonia glanced upwards, her muzzle scrunching slightly, a blush still coloring her cheeks, looking, in Long Play’s opinion, the perfect image of an adorable mare.
And then Harmonia leaned forward and kissed Long Play, a quick peck right on the tip of his muzzle.
“There,” said Harmonia quietly, pulling away. “Now will you shut up?”
Long Play blinked. Then he blinked again. Then he blinked differently, holding his eyes shut for a few beats before opening them again. “You… you just.”
“Shut up.”
A pause. “You could have done that sooner.”
“No, I couldn’t.”
Long Play arched an eyebrow. “Because it’s so much better to do it at a train station, right before I leave?”
Harmonia shook her head. “Because it’s easier to do something right at the end, when you feel that there’s no other chance.”
“What do you mean?” asked Long Play, furrowing his brow. “We’ll be in Canterlot, right?”
“I will,” affirmed Harmonia, “and what about yourself, Mister 33 ⅓?”
Long Play’s let out a sigh. DJ 33 ⅓. That’s right, there was a life outside of Manehattan. “I,” he said, “will be touring for three months.”
“And,” said Harmonia, “you won’t be anywhere near Canterlot.”
“Who told you?”
“Your mother. While you were shut in your room. She said that’s the whole reason that you decided to visit. To see your family before you went around Equestria.”
Long Play ran a hoof through his mane.“I hate when she talks about me.”
“Then you really will be leaving?” asked Harmonia.
“Yeah. I play a set in Canterlot first, then me and the other artists pack up and hit the road for…”
“A while,” finished Harmonia.
“A while,” agreed Long Play. “Don’t suppose that you’d care to join me?”
“As delightful as that sounds,” said Harmonia, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “I’ve only known you for a few days, Long Play. My parents wouldn’t exactly approve of me running off with a strange stallion for three months.”
Long Play smiled weakly. “They don’t have to know?”
Harmonia gave him a look.
“Well, it was worth a shot.” Long Play leaned back in his seat slightly. “Then what about after the tour?”
Harmonia thought for a few moments. “I don’t know, three months is a long time. I might have met somepony else.”
Long Play cracked a smile. “Somepony who’s willing to put up with you? Doubt it.”
Harmonia smacked him.
Long Play’s smile widened. “You know, if I were a sappier pony, I would have promised to fight whatever stallion you found.”
“I would have called you a liar.”
The colt shrugged, placing one hoof around Harmonia in the same motion. He held her that way.
“What are you doing?” asked Harmonia.
“Just trying to get warm,” said Long Play.
They stayed that way, exchanging small words and terrible jokes until the train came and took Long Play back to Canterlot, leaving Harmonia to trek back through Manehattan, warmed by the two-tone red scarf tied around her neck.
***
“Care for more breakfast, dear?”
Harmonia waved a hoof, her mouth still full with her last bit of pancake. “No thank you, Nana, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” asked Gramma Phone.
“Quite sure, thank you.”
“Well, don’t blame me if you pass out from malnourishment.” Melodia smiled, then turned around sharply. “And what about you two fillies?”
“Can I have another one, Nana?” asked Octavia.
“Of course, dear.”
“Gramma, what’s malnourishment?” Vinyl Scratch sounded out every syllable carefully.
“It’s what happens when you don’t eat enough.”
“Is it bad?”
“Yes, dear, very bad.”
Vinyl looked down at her plate, then up towards the stack of pancakes Gramma Phone had made. “Gramma, can I have another pancake?”
Melodia smiled and slid another pancake onto Vinyl’s plate.
Harmonia shook her head, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin and trotting over to the kitchen sink. She scrubbed at her plate, carefully cleaning off any speck of her meal. “Octavia,” she called out into the dining room, “did you finish packing?”
“Yes, Harmonia!”
“All the way packing?”
“Yes, Harmonia!”
The elder sister nodded in satisfaction, drying off the plate and putting it back into place, the same as she had done every morning that she had been in Manehattan. Indeed, it felt as though she’d been doing the same thing all her life.
Traveling was a strange affair.
Harmonia trotted out of the kitchen, smiling at her sister. “Get your suitcase, Octavia. We have to be leaving in a few minutes.”
Octavia glanced at Vinyl briefly, offered a quick smile, then trotted out of the dining room. Harmonia watched her go, smiling slightly to herself.
Something tugged against the mare’s leg. Harmonia glanced down, finding herself face to face with a sad Vinyl.
“Does Tavi have to go?” asked the filly, her eyes shining slightly.
Harmonia smiled sadly. “I’m sorry, Vinyl, but we have to go home. We’ll be visiting again soon.”
“How soon?”
“As soon as we can.”
Vinyl paused, gazing up at Harmonia. “Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
“It’s a promise!” said Vinyl forcefully. “You can’t break a promise.”
“I won’t.”
“Cross your heart?”
Harmonia drew an X over her chest with a hoof. “Cross my heart.”
“Okay,” said Vinyl with a sort of sad satisfaction.
Octavia trotted back into the room, now carrying a small grey suitcase, which she stood just within the dining room. Vinyl went over to join her.
There was a knock on the front door.
“Come in!” called Gramma Phone.
Vinyl Record came into the house, clutching a small brown package in her magic. “Sorry for having to step out,” she said, “I was expecting something in the mail.”
“Is that it?” asked Melodia, gesturing towards the package.
Record nodded.
“What is it, Mom?” asked Vinyl.
“It’s for you, Vinyl.” The package floated across the room, landing just in front of the filly. “From your brother.”
“From LP?” asked Vinyl Scratch excitedly. She tore into the package, her earlier melancholy utterly forgotten as she unearthed a smaller, black box from its brown prison. A folded piece of paper fell to the floor and was quickly scooped up by Octavia.
“Read the note first,” said Vinyl Record.
“Tavi,” asked Vinyl, “can you read the note?”
Octavia smiled proudly, unfolding the note and stretching it a few times to get the creases out.
To Vinyl Scratch, even though everypony’s probably gonna hear this,
Morning everypony! At least, I’m pretty sure it’ll be morning. I hope that you’ve all had fun since I left Manehattan and that there wasn’t too much of a sour mood in the air. Before anything, I’d like to say sorry for just leaving like that. I’m guessing that everypony knows why I did it, so I won’t really talk about it--
“Yeah,” interrupted Vinyl, “why did LP just leave?”
Octavia shrugged.
“We’ll tell you when the letter’s finished,” said Harmonia. “Keep going, Octavia.”
--but I feel pretty bad. And I wasn’t the only one that felt bad that day.
Vinyl, I saw the way that you were almost crying when the glasses broke. As your big brother, I should have done something to make you feel better, but I didn’t. I’m sorry, and I hope that this makes up for it. They may not fit quite yet, but your head will get big soon enough.
“Hey!” protested Vinyl.
The room broke out into giggles.
Anyway, I have to leave now so I’ll wrap up this note. I’m leaving this with the repairpony. He’s a good guy so I know that he’ll get everything to you all. I hope that you like your gift, Vinyl. Take good care of it.
Love to you all,
Long Play
P.S. If Harmonia’s there, tell her that I expect her in Canterlot as soon as I get back.
Vinyl, still grumbling slightly, took the black box in her hooves. She opened it, revealing purple shades, perfectly mended, hardly a trace of the damage done to them remaining.
“Cool!” squeaked the filly, lifting up the glasses and pressing them to her face. She giggled. “Everything’s purple. Is that what you see, Tavi?”
“No! That’s not how eyes work!”
Vinyl Record, all the while, kept her eyes on the glasses. They slid down Vinyl’s face, far too big for a filly, better suited to a head that was now long gone. She breathed a slow breath.
But it fit. And she could not imagine another pony wearing those shades.
Harmonia glanced up at the clock. “Octavia, we should get going.”
“Now?” complained the filly.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Vinyl,” said Vinyl Record, “have you given Octavia her gift?”
“Oh!” The filly turned, the shades sliding dangerously down her nuzzle. She ran over to the living room, returning with a pink paper bag. “Here you go!” she said, holding it out towards Octavia. “I picked it out!”
Octavia grinned excitedly, digging through the bag and the colored paper they had stuffed into it and pulling out a transparent box, which held a bright pink bowtie.
“It’s so cute!” squeaked Octavia. She threw herself forward, wrapping her front hooves around Vinyl. “Thank you!” Octavia dipped forward, planting a small kiss on Vinyl’s cheek.
Melodia waved at Octavia. “Come here, dear, and I’ll tie that on for you.” Octavia trotted over happily, returning a moment later with her chest puffed proudly outward to show off her brand-new bowtie.
***
Harmonia stared out of the train’s window, watching the landscape zoom past, listening to the steady sound of the train’s wheels on the tracks.
“That was fun,” said Octavia, one hoof running over her bowtie.
“Yeah.”
“When can we go back?”
“I don’t know.”
A pause. “I like Manehattan.”
Harmonia laughed. “I think you just like Vinyl.”
Octavia smiled. “Yeah, I like Vinyl too.”
“I do too, filly. And Long Play, and Nana, and Vinyl Record too. Even if it was only our first time meeting them.”
“Are we going to see them again?” asked Octavia.
Harmonia looked surprised. “Of course, Octavia. We’ll go back to Manehattan and we’ll drag Long Play back with us and we’ll make sure to have just as much fun as we did this time.”
The filly grinned. “I can’t wait!”
Harmonia smiled at her sister, who had been so quiet on the train to Manehattan, who now had a friend and a first love. “Neither can I, Octavia.”
She turned back towards the window, watching the landscape zoom past as the sisters made their way back home.
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Thank you for the ride. It was cute.
It was fluffy of the fluffiness
very cute and silly
please squeal
Very very nice. It was a good story all along, and you did not drag it (*cough*likesyncopation*cough*). Very sweet and smooth.
It's safe to say that First Meeting is the cutest, most adorable OctaScratch fic I have read. Props to you, sir. Can't wait for the second meeting.
...
There will be a second meeting, right?
Wh-what?! It's over already?
YOU BETTER MAKE A SEQUEL.
I hope you do a sequel, maybe like 3 months later. When LP finally returns??
Thank you for this story
That was quite enjoyable, I have read many Octavia/Vinyl stories and this one was cute in its own unique way. Having the two other OC's there helped the story more than I thought it would. Hope to see more from this in the future if you so choose to.
Insert influx of comments for an epilogue here.
Well, only was able to enjoy the ride after it was finished. But loved it all the same. A very cute story that never rubs it in your face its trying to be cute.
'To the west of the north of that world, the human race did gather. In celebration of a pagan rite to banish the cold and the dark.' -Rassilon
3900081 CORRECTION: [Insert influx of comments for an epilogue here]
This is a Great story! Now... If you'd be so kind
Could to contenue the story? 
I'd love to hear more about Longplay and Harmonia. Perhaps something happens three months later when he shows back up... And then there is the hole gang thing that has yet to completely be worked out... Perhaps they could show back up... I'm not sure... Anyway its a though...
I did indeed loved this story its adorable! And if you do decide to continue I'd give you a big old spine shattering hug!
Yet another story I will reread! Just like all your other stories
Another genius work you finished! I freaking love whatever you write
I'm begging you, for the sake of all of us, write more young cornstarch, it's so wholesomely adorable.
It-it's over?!? Wha-but-ah, noooo!
At this rate LP and Harmonica will get married first! It must be the cute little fillies! Even if it does take them longer! (Though I do like LP and Harmonica, I just still prefer Tavi and Vinyl)
MOAR
Please? 
Sounds like you are missing a word here, maybe "fun" after "as much. Other than that, this was an absolute fantastically cute story. Awesome Job!!!
3900462
Good catch! That's fixed now.
It's kind of weird, but whenever I read Long Play's talking parts--he sounds like Spirit from Soul Eater. Maybe it's the red hair...
Great story though
Are you thinking about a sequel?
Aaaah man. It ended.
Good story! I really liked it.
There better be a sequal
otherwise ill cry
This was simply beautiful. I honestly hope you'll write a sequel.
Now then was this already on my cute fics list or do I get to throw something else away. This one certainly deserves a spot there.
Bleh... I don't like endings
But I think you did a good job with the ending. It was cute, even though they went home.
Well, this was a nice birthday gift^^ Thanks^^ I hope well get to see how this continues^^ Also, cute idea, making Oczavias bow a gift from Vinyl^^ I really liked that^^
This was awesome, and it was literally a ride. More than half of this story was read on my bus rides home from school. :V
And here's one thing I must congratulate for: not even a single time did you make any sort of talk about how Vinyl and Octavia are having a same-sex relationship. I really love when "unusual" orientations are accepted without any complaint in a story.
As for Harmonia and Long Play, I sure hope the future of story would've had the two get together more closely. Well, in case we see a sequel we'll know.
Thanks a lot for this story!
Small spelling mistake. Change the N for an M in "nuzzle" ^^
Best story ever. Great job
can't say anything other than that was a good way to end this story. it gives the chance of a possibility for a sequel while kind of wrapping itself up in a nice big bow.
I'm sad that it has to end
but I'm pretty happy about the ending you gave us, so it's okay
3900454 this
vinyl and octy need to get married first so there must be a sequel pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease
Dawww....so cute...right In the feels.
Really a beautiful story, thanks.
the only way i can picture vinyl and octy getting married before long play and melody is if one of them dies and that makes me sad
That was a wonderfully sweet story, and I enjoyed every word. I would love to read more stories about LP and Harmonia and little Vinyl and Tavi. I love how you characterized them and how they interacted, and it would be nice see what happens when Long Play gets home to Canterlot.
So is there going to be a "Second Meeting"? Because this one was adorable. Maybe it takes place years later... two long lost friends reuniting. Octavia still has the bowtie Vinyl gave her, Vinyl still wears the shades to remind her of both her dad, brother, and Octavia...
3940910 Yup, reading "Vinyl and Octavia: University Days" really misprepared me for this one, plus my beliefs as a Christian, yet that still doesn't stop me from shipping vinyl and octy, lol!?
3925406 or if either LP or Harmonia taste the friend zone.
I can't wait to see what you come up with next.
This story hit me right in the feels. Its so adorable.
3943199 Or if Vinyl and Tavi go for some incest = wincest
right another story about vinyl, LP, octavia, and harmonia!!!!!
Sorry for taking so long... but that was adorable...
I hate you. And love you. At the same time. RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Pink bowtie..... That's adorable!
The cuteness has doubled!
>>Terrasora
I love the way you end your stories, for some reason, they feel like an epic depart from a long journey (I'm referring to the date began date finished in the authors note)
Also, some questions about your universe.
Is being gay like a normal thing there? Or is Melodia just really cool about her sister liking a girl.
Also, is this in ties with any other Vinyl/Octavia story? (I could doubt this considering at the end it mentions they come back to see her again instead of them never meeting again until Syncopation where Vinyl freaks out the now re-introverted Octavia.)
But I'm over thinking this. I love this story, and how the two siblings stole the show (may seem bad, but I like how it moved, felt mostly natural) and I'm sure the fillies would have been too wrapped up in really little kid stuff to be doing anything too crazy, although I would have liked to see Octavia's reaction when Vinyl "Proposed" to her.
I hate that I love this, but I love that I hate this...
its my own, my love... my precious~ *grabs story and strokes it before disappearing into a dark cave*
Maaaaaaan... this was a fantastci story well done! And I am glad I read it.
So flipping adorable... it truely was a great read, and I love where the shades and bow tie came from.
Keep up the fantastic work!
This story... It was too fluffy. Almost all feelings at least once. Sadness in the dad scenes, fear with shades and the three colts in the park and happiness, fluff, sugar were all the rest. This really reached my heart. Have a hoof up and a favourite please, you more than deserve it. Also, when I have more practice and a better microphone, I'll come back and ask for permission to make this into an audio reading. One day...
THE FEELS! IT'S TOO MUCH!!