Vinyl and Octavia's first meeting, years ago, in the middle of Canterlot Station
Octavia and Harmonia Philharmonica were on their way to Manehattan, ready to fulfill their duty as granddaughters and visit Nana. Vinyl Scratch and her brother Long Play were traveling back home from a concert in Canterlot, the first that Vinyl had ever attended. Pure serendipity facilitated these pairs' first meeting.
(Inspired by the pure adorableness that is the cover art)
Canterlot Station at rush hour. Not a particularly pleasant place to be. Ponies of all shapes and sizes dashed to and fro, lugging their luggage, and almost throwing themselves to find their places on overstuffed trains. Nearly every pony who had boarded a train at rush hour had gained their share of near-death experiences. Whether they were running late for a meeting and had to dive through a set of closing doors, they had tripped and almost face planted down the tall stone steps that lead to the platforms, or whether a particularly large, probably braindead, monster of a pony had fallen asleep on the train and had decided to use the unfortunate pony next to them as a pillow.
Every pony had a story. The air throbbed with the collective determination to get somewhere in time. Canterlot Station was little more than a battleground.
Long Play loved it. He trotted through the crowds with a grin on his face, watching as businessponies trotted past, muttering numbers to themselves. Long Play scratched at his pierced ear.
Is it just me, he thought or is there-- He didn’t finish his thought, opting instead to float his CD player from his saddlebags. His hoof reached into a different compartment of his bags, deftly plucking a CD and slamming it into place. The track started.
Long Play let out the slightest cry of delight. His grin widened and he stopped walking, taking a moment to glance around and make sure that he wasn’t going crazy. To Long Play’s slight disappointment, he was still playing with a full deck. A slightly tattered, beer-stained deck, but a deck nonetheless.
The ponies, most of them well dressed, well-to-do, and well-tired of waiting around for their train, were dancing. Or… almost dancing. They were moving in almost perfect step, to the same rhythm as the music blaring into Long Play’s ears.
Today’s a good day, he thought happily.
Something took hold of the back of Long Play’s mane and pulled sharply. The stallion’s head jerked upward and his headphones slipped slightly.
“Good morning, lil’ sis,” said Long Play from his uncomfortable position. “Have a nice nap?”
“Mhmm,” replied the filly on his back happily.
“Wanna let go of my mane?”
“Mmmmm...nah!”
“Vinyl Scratch,” growled the older pony, “if you don’t let go, I swear to Celestia that I’ll leave you here.”
Vinyl giggled and held on tighter. “Momma’d be angry with you.”
“Yeah, well, Momma’s always angry at me for some reason. Plus, I’d get rid of an annoying sister. I can only win from this.”
The grip on his mane slackened slightly. “I’m… annoying?”
Long Play craned his neck, coming face to face with the blue-maned, red-eyed ball of fluff that was his sister. He ruffled her mane slightly.
“Next time, make your lip tremble. Then you might actually make me care.”
Vinyl stuck her tongue out at him. Then, a moment later: “LP, when does the train leave?”
Long Play glanced up towards the wall, towards the giant table of constantly changing times. “The 4:30 back to Manehattan. Leaves in about 20 minutes.”
“Do we have to leave?” whined the filly.
“Enjoyed the concert?” asked Long Play with a smile.
Vinyl perked up excitedly. “It was awesome! And really loud! And the singer was really cool, and the guitar sounded really guitar-y!”
“Guitar-y? Really?” noted the brother in amusement.
“Yeah! Really guitar-y!”
“Is that what got you your cutie mark?”
Vinyl paused, furrowing her brow and pouting slightly. She turned around, balancing precariously on her brother’s back until she caught a glimpse of her flank. “I’ve got a cutie mark!” squeaked Vinyl happily. “Look look! They’re eighth notes!”
Long Play shook his head. “Yeah, that’s what they were the last time you found them. And the time before that.”
Vinyl grinned happily, unaware of her brother in the euphoria of having a cutie mark. Long Play didn’t doubt for a moment that she could have stayed that way for hours. Then the filly’s stomach roared.
“I’m hungry, LP!” said Vinyl.
“And what am I supposed to do about it?”
The filly clambered up her brother’s neck, perching on top of his red mane and staring down into his eyes. “Buy me food!”
Long Play raised an eyebrow. “You drive a hard bargain.”
Vinyl’s brow knit in confusion. “But I can’t drive.”
Long Play grinned and tilted his head forward, sending his sister tumbling towards the ground. She let out a shriek just as a soft red aura sprouted around her and stopped her fall. The stallion floated Vinyl upwards until they were at eye level.
“Come on filly,” he said, “let’s see what we can find at the food court.”
***
Canterlot Station at rush hour. An uncomfortable place to be. Especially for one who hadn’t quite built up an armory of stories. One like Harmonia Philharmonica. She wasn’t exactly a social pony. Well, honestly, that’s a bit of an understatement. Harmonia wasn’t exactly a social pony in the same way that a hermit who has decided to move to the Frozen North, only close enough to the Crystal Empire to buy provisions on a monthly basis isn’t exactly a social pony.
Harmonia’s golden eyes scanned the station. Everypony seemed in a rush, heading someplace or another with their eyes forward and determination in their steps. She took a moment to appreciate that nopony would really talk to her.
Something caught her eye, though. The flash of an untidy red mane and a golden earring bobbing slightly above the other, mostly well-kempt Canterlotians. Harmonia raised an eyebrow, then turned towards the timetable.
“Octavia,” she said. “What time does our train leave?”
A gray face, topped with a charcoal-black mane, poked around the other mare’s head. “Half past four. On towards Manehattan.” She pointed a tiny hoof up towards the board. “Right there. In the middle.”
Harmonia squinted slightly. “That one?” she asked.
“Harmonia, did you forget your glasses again?”
“Well I wasn’t expecting to be looking across such long distances!” Harmonia turned slightly pink.
Octavia shook her head. “Anyway, we still have some…” The filly’s voice trailed off as she glanced up at a clock.
“Some what?” asked Harmonia teasingly.
“It’s…” Octavia squinted slightly, her muzzle scrunching as she tried to convert numerals into numbers and numbers into an actual time.
“It’s a quarter past four,” said Harmonia with a wry smile. “Dear sister, we still have some fifteen minutes until the train arrives. Remember that each numeral for the hour counts as five for the minute.”
Octavia’s pouted. “At least I can see,” she murmurred.
“What was that, Sister dear?” asked Harmonia.
“Nothing!” replied Octavia.
“Good. I thought so. Now, do you see any signs pointing to any sort of restaurant? I’m rather famished.”
The filly straightened up slightly, casting her gaze over the other ponies’ heads. “There!” She pointed towards a wall, adorned with a dilapidated green sign that read ‘Food Court.’
Harmonia squinted at the wall. “If you say so.” She adjusted her saddlebags and made sure that Octavia wasn’t in any danger of falling. Then they set off.
***
“Alright then filly,” said Long Play. “What tickles your fancy?”
Vinyl considered this, tapping out a rhythm on her chin. “Cupcakes?” she said uncertainly.
Long Play shook his head. “I am not dealing with a sugar-hyped you in a train. Seriously, it’ll be like Gremlins or something.”
“What’s Gremlins?”
“Little things that are cute but become evil when you feed them something at the wrong time.” Long Play paused. “Actually, it’s exactly like Gremlins. Huh.”
“But I want a cupcake!” protested Vinyl.
“Not dealing with it!” He trotted around the food court in a loose circle. “Look at all of the other types of food, see how they’re not covered in sugar and won’t make you bounce around the entire train? And how I won’t have to put you in a microwave for it?”
Vinyl’s eyes widened slightly. “Microwave?”
“I’m kidding!” said Long Play quickly. “Look! An oats and apples mix! How about an oats and apples mix bag?!” He grinned awkwardly at his sister and trotted over to the stand. The stallion behind the counter offered a polite smile.
Vinyl squinted at LP, but nodded. Long Play breathed a sigh of relief and hoofed a few bits over to the stallkeeper, receiving two bags in return, one of which went immediately into the filly’s hooves.
Long Play smiled, knowing that his sister would be preoccupied for the next few moments. He glanced around the food court. Not as busy as the lobby was, and certainly not as bad as the platforms would be, but still full of ponies. His head bobbed slightly and one of Long Play’s hooves darted into his bag. Another CD went into the player and the headphones went around his ears. He grinned as a burst of music filled the room and all the ponies began moving in tandem.
Except for one.
Long Play watched with an astonished expression as the grey mare calmly walked across the food court, completely shattering the rhythm in his head. She was completely out of step, off-key, untuned, and various other music-related comparisons that Long Play couldn’t be bothered to think of at the moment. It was almost like she couldn’t hear the music!
Something tugged sharply and familiarly at Long Play’s mane.
“I’m still hungry,” squeaked Vinyl, oat crumbs and apple skin adorning the area around her mouth.
Long Play dragged a kerchief from his saddlebag, rubbing it roughly against Vinyl’s face. “Alright, we still got some money. What do ya want?”
“Cupcake!” said the filly with a grin.
Long Play cast a look around the food court. “Hayfries?” he suggested weakly.
Vinyl raised an eyebrow.
The stallion sighed. “Right. Cupcakes.”
***
“Cupcakes?”
“Yes, Octavia, cupcakes.”
“Mummy says that we’re not supposed to eat cupcakes before dinner,” said Octavia uncertainly.
Harmonia sighed slightly. “Dinner’s not for a few more hours.”
“But it’s still before dinner!” Octavia looked utterly shocked that her sister would dare to suggest such a thing.
“Do you want a cupcake or not?”
The filly glanced from side to side, then back at her sister. She nodded softly.
Harmonia smiled, then glanced over at the cupcake stand. There were… quite a few ponies in line. At least five, one of which didn’t seem like the most refined pony. Her smile faded, replaced by the beginnings of panic. Five, not counting the mare behind the counter. Who she’d have to talk to if she wanted to order the cupcakes.
Maybe, she thought to herself, cupcakes aren’t the best idea.
The mare serving cupcakes, an aquamarine unicorn with a plate of steaming cookies as a cutie mark, turned away from her post. He horn glowed softly and a fresh batch of cupcakes were pulled out of an oven that Harmonia couldn’t quite see. But she saw the cupcakes. And she certainly saw the mare apply a coat of frosting to the cupcakes.
That’s it. I have no choice. “Octavia,” began Harmonia.
“You want me to ask for them, don’t you?” said the filly flatly.
The elder mare flinched but nodded.
“Okay,” said Octavia with a sigh. “What am I supposed to ask for?”
***
Long Play floated a chocolate cupcake over his head. Vinyl nearly jumped up and snatched it out of the air, greedily biting into the pastry. Her brother smiled.
“Careful filly. I have enough problems when you get sugar, try not to fall off and add a concussion to it.”
Vinyl, her mouth full of delicious chocolate, wasn’t able to stick her tongue out.
The aquamarine mare behind the counter watched with a smile. Long Play caught her looking from the corner of his eye. He glanced at her and smiled in what he was sure was a charming fashion, then threw in a wink for added effect. The mare’s smile grew slightly.
“LP,” squeaked Vinyl, “the train leaves in ten minutes.”
Damn it, thought Long Play. “Alright, then lets head towards the platform.” He cast another glance at the mare, then turned around.
“Bye, Lady!” said Vinyl, waving at the cupcake salesmare. “Thank you for the cupcake! It’s really good!”
Long Play mentally pumped his hoof, thanking his sister for the bonus points she had just won for him.
He passed a slightly familiar grey mare. They locked eyes for a moment. Long Play nodded in greeting. Harmonia Philharmonica gave a much smaller nod, her eyes immediately snapping forward as she stepped up towards the counter.
Long Play noted the grey filly that the mare carried on her back. Octavia was staring at the other pair of siblings, her eyes darting between the two of them. LP smiled, and nodded at her as well. Octavia averted her eyes, focusing on Vinyl.
Vinyl waved her cupcake at the other filly.
Octavia looked away, her eyes as straightforward as her sister’s.
The two pairs separated again.
“You happy now, Vinyl?” asked Long Play.
“She was pretty,” said the filly.
Long Play tried to call up an image of the mare. Definitely a looker, if obviously a bit cold. And the necklace made her look a bit older. Not that he’d ever say that to a mare. Not unless he wanted a concussion. “Yeah,” he decided. “She was a pretty mare. I really liked her eyes. Golden-y yellow. Like a gemstone.”
Vinyl furrowed her brow. “Her eyes were purple.”
Long Play mirrored his sister’s expression. “Purple? … The filly?”
“Uh-huh!” said Vinyl happily. “She was really pretty. I like her.”
“Huh.”
“Do you think we’ll see her again, LP?”
The siblings had arrived at the platforms. There were about five minutes until their train arrived.
“I don’t know, filly. It’s a train station, ya know? Can’t really tell where anypony is going.”
“So we might see her again?” asked Vinyl excitedly.
There was a pause. “Vinyl?”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s make an agreement right now. When you decide to make a ‘big decision’ and you gather Mom and me and everyone, I reserve the right to sit out of the conversation on the basis that it’s pretty obvious. Deal?”
Vinyl thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “I guess.”
“Sweet.” Long Play reached out for his CD player, plugging his headphones back onto his ears. Vinyl went back to her cupcake.
***
Octavia thoughtfully chewed on her cupcake.
“You okay back there?” asked Harmonia. “You seem quiet.”
“I’m eating,” replied the filly.
“Never stopped you before.”
Octavia nodded, finishing off the rest of her strawberry cupcake as they approached the platforms.
“But seriously,” said Harmonia. “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing. I’m eating.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I’ll be right here if you need me for anything.” She reached into her saddlebags, pulling out a book and quickly flipping through it. “It’s a long ride to Manehattan and Nana’s house, so prepare yourself for that. And make sure that we don’t crash into anypony.”
Octavia nodded again, burying her face against her sister’s neck. Harmonia had developed an introvert’s walking ability, being able to wander the busiest streets with her head in a book without crashing into anypony. A feat made all the more impressive as she was only using three of her legs to walk.
No, the filly didn’t have to worry about her sister crashing into anything. She was, however, rather worried that she’d crash into those two ponies from the cupcake stand. There was something… off about them. Octavia wasn’t the most outgoing of ponies, but her sister had forced her to speak to enough ponies to ward away the most debilitating aspects of shyness. But Octavia didn’t feel like she’d be able to talk to either of those two colorfully-maned unicorns. Especially the filly. Octavia was already bad with ponies her age, but that filly seemed-- well, Octavia wasn’t sure exactly what that filly seemed like.
Except loud. She seemed like she could be very loud.
Something poked at Octavia’s side. The filly jumped, startled out of her stupor. She glanced up and found herself face to face with the white-coated, blue-maned filly from before.
Vinyl reached out with a hoof, resting it on the other filly’s muzzle. Her face lit up in a massive grin. “It’s you again! Hi! My name’s Vinyl Scratch!”
Octavia went slightly cross eyed, trying to look at Vinyl’s hoof. Harmonia was lost in her book and the stallion Vinyl was hitching a ride on was silently dancing to some song.
“What’s your name?” asked Vinyl.
The other filly flushed by the slightest bit.
“Look!” said Vinyl, undeterred, “you have a cutie mark too!” She turned slightly in order to show off her new eighth notes. “That’s a trouble clef, right?”
Octavia shook her head.
“It’s not?”
Octavia shook her head. There was a slight rumbling off in the distance. A mechanical voice rang from the speakers, bleating out an almost understandable warning towards standing too close to the train tracks.
“Well, what is it?” continued Vinyl.
Octavia stayed quiet.
There was a slight pause before Vinyl spoke again. “I like you! I think we’re gonna be friends! And look, we’re taking the same train!”
Both Harmonia and Long Play lurched into the train, still lost within the world of their interest.
Vinyl grinned, her eyes never leaving Octavia’s. “Isn’t this gonna be fun?!”
Vinyl tilted her head, bouncing slightly as the train sped onwards. “Come on! It’s a lot more fun to play with somepony when you can actually talk to them!”
Octavia glanced around nervously, scooting in a bit closer to her sister. Harmonia shifted absentmindedly, her muzzle still stuck in her book.
But Vinyl was relentless. She sat down next to Octavia, leaning forward slightly. “My name’s Vinyl! Do you wanna play something?”
Octavia shook her head.
Long Play smiled, watching his sister from across the train. He felt sorry for that grey filly, he really did. Vinyl had absolutely no tact. But then again, he thought, she’s doing a good job of distracting Vinyl. He leaned back in his seat, pulling one of the headphones out of the way in case of emergency. I can appreciate that.
“That not nice,” squeaked Vinyl in reprimand. “Come on! It’ll be fun!”
Octavia turned towards her sister, standing up on her hind hooves to reach her ears. “Help me,” she whispered.
Harmonia came out of her stupor groggily, blinking and looking around the train. Her eyes locked first on Octavia, then on Vinyl.
“Hi!” greeted Vinyl excitedly. “My name’s Vinyl Scratch! Can your sister come and play with me?”
Harmonia blinked confusedly, not quite outside of her novel’s world. “Pardon?”
“I’m Vinyl. Vinyl,” repeated Vinyl slowly. “V-I-N-E-L.” A pause. “V-I-N-Y-L. What’s your name?”
“Harmonia.”
“Can I play with your sister?”
Harmonia looked down at Octavia. The filly shook her head furiously.
“I’m sorry,” said the mare. “She’s not feeling well.”
Vinyl pouted. Then she brightened up. “Well, can I stay over here? And we can talk, and that’ll still be fun!” She smiled widely.
“Errr.” Harmonia glanced at her sister again. Octavia’s head was a blur of grey and black. “I don’t think…”
But Vinyl had already turned towards her brother, motioning furiously for him to join them. Long Play arched an eyebrow, and got to his hooves, trotting over to the seat. He locked eyes with Harmonia, a flash of recognition crossing over both pairs of eyes.
“This is my brother Long Play,” introduced Vinyl. “It’s a type of record!” She turned towards Long Play. “Right?”
“Yeah, a 33 ⅓,” he said with a nod. Long Play sat down on the bench across from them. “I’m sorry if my sister has been bothering you. She’s… excitable.”
Harmonia smiled tightly, turning back towards her book without a word. Long Play furrowed his brow for a few moments, but shrugged and locked himself in his music.
Vinyl turned back towards Octavia. “So, what’s your name?”
The other filly sighed, acknowledging her defeat. “Octavia. Octavia Philharmonica.”
“That’s a long name.”
Octavia scowled.
“I don’t think it’s cute enough for you,” continued Vinyl unabashedly. “I’m gonna give you a nickname! Oooo! I know! I’ll call you Tavi! Hi Tavi! My name’s Vinyl!”
“I’ve heard,” deadpanned Octavia with a skill beyond her years.
“How did you know that?”
“You said it. About five times.”
“Oh yeah! Tavi, you have a really good memory!” Vinyl grinned brightly. “I like you! Do you wanna go explore the train?”
“No.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot that you were sick.” Vinyl adjusted herself slightly. “Well, we can just sit here and talk. How long until we get to Manehattan?”
“Three hours,” responded Octavia automatically.
“That’s a long time,” said Vinyl. “Well, we can talk until then! It’ll be fun!”
A look of horror touched Octavia’s eyes. “For three hours?”
“Yup.”
“The entire train ride?”
Vinyl nodded earnestly. “Yup.”
Octavia thought for a moment. “Would you talk as much if we were exploring the train?”
“Mmmmm… no. Probably not.”
Octavia tugged at her sister’s hoof. “I’m going to explore the train with Vinyl.”
Again, Harmonia took a few moments to acclimate to the real world. She nodded and lowered her book.
“Hey, LP!” said Vinyl, waving a hoof in her brother’s face. Long Play took of his headphones.
“Me and Tavi are going to go look through the train!”
Long Play got to his hooves. “Sounds nice. But I’m not going to let two fillies wander through a train alone.”
Vinyl pouted. “We’ll be safe!”
“I’m not gonna take the chance.”
Octavia trotted up next to Vinyl. “What are we supposed to do?” There was a marked lack of enthusiasm in her voice.
Vinyl threw another look at her brother before turning towards Octavia. “We’re gonna go up and down the train and see what we find!”
Harmonia got out of her seat, her book still clutched in a hoof.
Long Play turned towards her. “You can stay here if you want. I can keep an eye on them.”
Harmonia nodded, but stayed on her hooves.
“Suit yourself,” said Long Play with a shrug.
They set off, wandering through the cars, past ponies sleeping, reading newspapers, and generally trying to kill the three hours of time they had to spend in their seats.
“This is boring,” said Vinyl after about ten minutes of wandering.
“Of course it is,” said Long Play. “It’s a train.”
“You’re a train,” mumbled Vinyl.
Octavia furrowed her brow. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”
“Can we head back to our seats?” asked Vinyl. “The train’s not as fun as I thought it’d be.” She brightened slightly. “Or, can we go see the conductor?! That might be fun!”
Octavia perked up a bit. “The conductor?”
“Can we, LP?” Vinyl’s eyes widened and her lower lip shook as she looked up towards her brother.
Long Play shrugged. “We’ll have to turn around and head the other way.”
Vinyl broke out in a grin and Octavia, try as she might, couldn’t repress a smile. The two elder siblings were forced to step aside as the fillies raced past them.
Harmonia gave Long Play a strange look.
“What?” he asked.
She fixed her eyes forward, trotting slightly to keep up with Octavia and Vinyl. “Nothing.”
Long Play arched an eyebrow. “Alright. Sure.” He enveloped his headphones in his magic, shifting them to cover his ears. Then, with a sigh, he sent them back towards his saddlebags. “So… mind if I ask what you were reading?”
There was a slight twinge in Harmonia’s face. Evidently, she did. “The Sound and the Fury.”
Long Play let out a low whistle. “Ah, Gilliam Falcon. That’s a task to read, innit? I mean, most Griffon literature is, but Falcon took it to a whole new level.”
Harmonia’s eyes widened slightly. “You know it?”
“Had to study it for a Lit class in Uni. I liked the class. Missing it was pretty much the only con I could think up for dropping out.”
“You dropped out.” Harmonia turned away, focused again on putting each hoof in front of the other.
Long Play smiled wryly. “Yeah, I did. And I don’t regret it.”
Harmonia didn’t answer. Long Play floated his headphones back out and jammed them over his ears. Well, he thought, that was nice.
The four made their way towards the front of the train. A mare stood in front of the lead car, smiling at the fillies as they slid to a stop in front of her.
“Hi!” said Vinyl excitedly.
“Good afternoon,” said the attendant amiably. “How may I help you?”
“Can we go in and see the pony drive the train?” Vinyl grinned.
The mare glanced up towards the older ponies, both of which gave a half-apologetic smile. “Of course,” said the attendant with a smile. “I’m sure that he’ll be happy to speak with you. If you don’t mind waiting for a moment.” She turned, knocking on the door and disappearing inside. A few muffled words floated back towards the waiting siblings before the mare opened the door again and motioned them inwards.
The lead car was larger than they had thought, big enough to easily hold the four new arrivals. A large windshield opened up to a speeding landscape, with two smaller windows off to the sides allowing for a bit of air circulation. A light brown stallion with a train whistle cutie mark and wearing a classic conductor’s hat stood in front of a panel of switches and buttons. He turned towards the others with a smile.
“Afternoon!” he said. “My name’s Caboose Conductor, conductor for this train! Are you enjoying your ride so far?”
The fillies, suddenly remembering their self-consciousness, nodded in tandem.
Caboose grinned. “Great! I’m glad to hear it.” He put a hoof to his chin thoughtfully. “Hmmmm. Now, I don’t suppose you two would like to hear how to drive the train?”
“Yeah!” Octavia and Vinyl rushed forward, standing on their hind legs to get a view of the panel as Caboose began an explanation of the various switches and meters.
The attendant stood off in the corner with the other two ponies. “They’re adorable,” she said.
Long Play, his headphones now around his neck, and Harmonia nodded in agreement.
“How old are they?”
“Vinyl’s seven,” said Long Play.
“Octavia is nine.”
“And,” the attendant paused slightly, “they’re yours?”
Long Play and Harmonia glanced at each other. Then at the attendant. Long Play was the first to realize it.
“Oh! No. No. No!” His gaze shifted back to Harmonia. “No! We’re not… No!”
It hit Harmonia a few moments afterwards. “No! Of course not! We barely even met!”
The other mare turned beet red. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I saw you two walking with them and I just assumed. I mean, you two aren’t exactly old enough to have them, now that I think about it. I’m so sorry!”
“It’s fine,” said Long Play.
“Just please, don’t bring it up again,” added Harmonia.
Long Play gave her a curious look.
***
The four marched out of the lead car some minutes later, Octavia and Vinyl both armed with conductor’s hats. Vinyl wore hers proudly, the hat almost exactly the same shade as the darker part of her mane, while Octavia had opted to have Harmonia hold her hat.
“See, Tavi!” said Vinyl. “I told you that it’d be fun! Wasn’t it fun?”
“It was rather interesting,” admitted Octavia reluctantly.
Vinyl grinned in triumph.
They returned to their seats. Long Play and Harmonia immediately retreated into their serparate worlds. Octavia was forced to listen to Vinyl babble incoherently. And then, out of politeness, she began to respond to Vinyl, feeling rather ashamed of herself for forgetting her manners and ignoring her.
“You… said that you just got your cutie mark?” asked Octavia.
“Yeah!” Vinyl turned slightly to show off the bridged notes adorning her flank. “They’re eighth notes. I got them at the concert that LP took me to see. What about you, Tavi? How’d you get your trouble clef?”
“Treble clef,” corrected Octavia.
Vinyl furrowed her brow. “That’s what I said.”
“No it isn’t.”
“Yes it is!”
“You said ‘trouble.’ It’s treble.”
“Why do they sound the same if they’re not the same thing? That’s dumb.”
“My sister says that Equish isn’t exactly the most rational language.”
“And what does that mean?”
Octavia thought for a moment. “That it’s dumb.”
The fillies giggled together.
“That’s the first time you’ve laughed!” exclaimed Vinyl happily.
“No it isn’t.”
“Yes it is.”
“I’ve laughed before!” protested Octavia.
“Not on the train; I haven’t seen you laugh! You should laugh some more. I like when you laugh.”
That was around an hour and a half into the train ride. The fillies would spend the next hour or so talking about whatever popped into their heads.
Then Long Play’s stomach rumbled. He took off his headphones, reluctantly turning off his CD player in the middle of a Fiona Apple song.
He never would completely forgive himself for that.
“I’m heading to the dining cart. Anypony want anything?”
“What are they gonna have?” asked Vinyl.
“I haven’t been in there at all. How am I supposed to know? They probably have, like, nachos and stuff.”
“I don’t want nachos,” said Vinyl. “Tavi, do you want nachos?”
“Not really.”
“We don’t want nachos.”
Long Play gave them a deadpan look. “Nice to know. What do you want?”
“I don’t know. What are they gonna have?”
“Alright, that’s it. You’re coming with me. Let’s go to the dining cart.”
Harmonia’s book slammed shut. She looked upwards, blinking at the three ponies without seeing them, then turned towards the window.
Vinyl turned towards the other filly. “You wanna come with us, Tavi?”
Octavia got to her hooves. “Harmonia, is it alright if I go to the dining cart?”
Harmonia nodded before standing up. “I’ll go as well. I am a bit peckish.”
Long Play shrugged, leading the way to the dining cart. As per expected, there wasn’t much in the way of selections. Nachos, dandelion sandwiches, and apples seemed to be the extent of their choices.
Each pony made their choice, Octavia and Harmonia coming away with the sandwiches and some apples, Vinyl with a sandwich and Long Play, after much debate with himself, took the nachos. They made their way back to their seats, digging straight into their food.
“So you finished your book, right?” asked Long Play.
Harmonia nodded.
“What did ya think?”
“It was fine.”
“Was it your first time going through it?”
Harmonia nodded.
Long Play smiled in sympathy. “Must’ve sucked. I didn’t get anything out of The Sound and the Fury the first time I went through it.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” said Harmonia.
“I guess. Once you get passed all of the symbolism and allusions, that is.”
“I rather enjoyed that aspect of it.”
“Well, yeah. But it’s annoying as all Tartarus. Did you catch everything that Falcon snuck in there?”
“I should think so.” And I certainly don’t need you to explain it to me, she added mentally.
“Good,” said Long Play absentmindedly. “Good.” He unstuck a few chips, tossing each of them into his mouth in turn. Harmonia turned towards the window. Vinyl and Octavia had, at this point, returned to their prior topic.
Harmonia winced as Long Play continued talking. “Have you ever finished a book and felt yourself acting like one of the characters? It’s happened to me with a couple of fantasy books. I really hope you didn’t get that from The Sound and the Fury, though. Everyone in that book is crazy.”
“No, Mr. Play, I do not have that feeling.”
“Just LP is fine.”
Harmonia gave him a look. “Mr. Play.”
Long Play held up his hooves. “Alright, that’s fine. Just trying to make small talk.”
The mare smiled tightly. “I’m sure.” She turned to look through the window.
A voice sounded over the intercom. “Passengers, this is your conductor speaking. Please begin to secure your belongings; we will be arriving in Manehattan Station in approximately three minutes. Thank you for riding with us today.”
“You know, Miss Philharmonica, I’m starting to think that you don’t like me.”
“I’ve barely met you.”
The fillies ran over to the window, staring out of it in awe as the train pulled into the station, the skyscrapers of Manehattan looming far above their heads.
“Which makes it even crazier that I’m getting this feeling,” responded Long Play.
“I have no way to make calls upon your character, Mr. Play.” Harmonia gave a cursory rummage through her bags, making sure that everything was in place.
“Really?” asked Long Play, floating everything into place in his bags. “There are plenty of ponies who think that the way I look is enough. Most of them are from Canterlot.”
The train ground to a halt.
“I would never do something like that,” said Harmonia resolutely.
“I hope that’s true.”
They marched off of the train, exiting out into Manehattan Station. It was remarkably similar to Canterlot Station, as train stations tend to seem until one notices that the advertisements adorning the walls are written in a different language,
Vinyl and Octavia stayed next to their siblings, following close behind as they exited Manehattan Station.
“Bye Tavi,” said Vinyl. “I had a lot of fun.”
“Me too, Vinyl.”
Harmonia and Long Play nodded their goodbyes, quickly checked the street signs, then cantered off. In the same direction.
Octavia blinked. “I… guess that we’re not saying goodbye yet.”
Vinyl grinned widely and let out a high-pitched cheer.
Harmonia and Long Play gritted their teeth and continued on their way, confident that the other would deviate from their path. The pattern would repeat at every intersection. The two sibling pairs stayed in perfect step. Vinyl and Octavia, not quite sure where they’d end up but glad to have the extra time together, fell back to talking.
“Are you following me?” asked Harmonia.
Long Play snorted. “As if I’d ever do that.”
They turned onto one final street. About midway down the block, Harmonia turned away, climbing a quick set of stairs to the front door of a home. Vinyl and Octavia were forced to say their goodbyes.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Long Play walked on, stopping in front of the house, checking its address, trying desperately to find some kind of loopholes. “Celestia hates me so much.”
Vinyl glanced curiously at her brother, then up and down the street, her eyes eventually settling on the house to the immediate right of the house Harmonia had approached. The filly grinned widely, literally jumping for joy, a shower of light blue sparks falling from her horn.
“Mommy, mommy, I made a new friend!” Vinyl rushed forward, her hooves slipping slightly on the hardwood floor. She jumped up, hugging her mother, a white unicorn with a short, blue mane, sea-green eyes and a microphone cutie mark.
“You did? How exciting!”
“Yeah! Her name’s Tavi and she’s kinda shy, but she’s really nice and pretty! She’s living next door.”
“Ah, that must be Melodia’s granddaughter. It’s nice that you’ve already met. Where’s your brother?”
“Those were Gramma’s kids?” Long Play trotted into the room, no longer burdened with his luggage. “Little, sweet Gramma Phone?”
Vinyl looked at him angrily. “Tavi was little!”
“The other one wasn’t.”
“Long Play!”
“She wasn’t! Harmonia was actually a bit of an a--” He met Vinyl’s eyes. “--annoying pony. A bit of an annoying pony.”
“I liked her!” protested the filly.
“You barely even talked to her.”
“So?”
“Now kids, play nice. And you, Long Play, you better not bring anything like that up tonight at dinner. Gramma has invited us over to meet her granddaughters.”
Vinyl let out a cheer. Long Play’s eyes went wide. “And you agreed to this?!”
Momma Scratch glared at him. “Yes, I agreed to it. And because I agreed to it, you agreed to it. You have two hours to get ready.”
“Can’t,” mumbled Long Play, “I have to get back to Canterlot. There’s probably a train leaving in the next few hours that I could catch.”
“Do you have the ticket?” asked Momma Scratch.
A pause. “I have enough bits to buy the ticket.”
“Not good enough.” The elder mare turned away, Vinyl now balanced on her back. “You have to come to dinner tonight.”
Vinyl stuck out her tongue as she and her mother turned a corner and into a different room.
Long Play glanced upwards helplessly.
“Really?”
***
“Really, dear? That’s nice.”
Octavia looked up brightly. “Yeah! Her name’s Vinyl and she’s a nice pony, but she’s really really loud. I couldn’t get her to stop talking.”
Gramma smiled understandingly. “Yes, I’ve met Vinyl,” she said in her worn, warm voice. A pause. “We’re talking about Scratch, right?”
Octavia tilted her head in confusion.
“Both the mother and the daughter have the same first name. Vinyl Scratch and Vinyl Record.” Gramma smiled, quickly ruffling her granddaughter’s mane. “Scratch has ruined my flowers more than once.”
“Vinyl did that?” asked Octavia with a gasp.
“Not on purpose, dear… I think. Well, certainly not with malicious intent.” Gramma looked up, turning slightly to where Harmonia sat scowling at her book. “There’s another one in that family, isn’t there, Harmonia? A colt around your age, I think. Did you meet him?”
“Yes, Nana. He was on the train here.”
“How nice!” A pause. “You didn’t beat him up, did you?”
Harmonia put her book down “Of course not! Why would I do such a thing?!”
“I wouldn’t put it past you, Harmonia, dear.” Gramma smiled happily. “Don’t worry, it’s not a bad trait to have! You’re a very strong mare. And what did you think of Long Play?”
“Was that Vinyl’s brother?” asked Octavia.
“Yes, dear.”
The filly smiled. “He’s nice! He took us to see the train driver!”
“I was there too,” mumbled Harmonia.
“But you were reading the entire time!”
“Not the entire time!” A rather nice shade of pink grew in Harmonia’s cheeks.
Gramma smiled serenely. “Long Play’s a nice colt. He helped replace the flowers that Scratch kept knocking over… You did say that you didn’t beat him, right?”
“I didn’t beat him!”
“She was mean to him,” squeaked Octavia. Harmonia threw her a withering look.
Gramma clicked her tongue disappointedly. “He’s a nice colt,” she repeated with a sigh. “Anywho, they’ll be here in an hour or so. We should set the table.”
***
“Melodia!”
“Hello Record dear, how are you doing?” Melodia Philharmonica hugged the mare, kissing the air next to her cheeks.
“Wonderfully, thank you for asking.” Vinyl Record stepped inside the house proper, closely followed by her children.
“Gramma!” Vinyl Scratch rocketed into the room, jumping up and hugging the elder mare. “Gramma, is Tavi here?”
“Yes, Scratch, she’s in the dining room.”
The filly quickly wriggled out of Gramma’s hooves, slipping slightly as she ran into the dining room. “Tavi!” Squees and giggles floated back to the ponies at the front door.
“She’s been like that since she got back from the station,” said Vinyl Record with a smile. She reached out, thumping Long Play solidly on the back. “This one’s had the opposite reaction.”
“Hello, Long Play!” She stepped forward, embracing the colt. “I heard that you had a run in with my granddaughters earlier today.”
“Yes, Gramma. It was… nice.”
“Did you meet Harmonia?”
“Yes.”
Melodia cocked an eyebrow. “Then I sincerely doubt that it was ‘nice’. She’s terrible at good impressions.”
“I noticed.”
“Long Play!” interjected Record in protest.
“Hey, Gramma said it first!”
A crashing sound resounded through the house, quickly followed by a hushed “Uh-oh.”
“Long Play,” began Melodia with a slight sigh, “would you be so kind as to clean up the mess?” She sniffed slightly. “My poor rhododendrons, they never stood a chance.”
Long Play offered a sad smile, before trotting away into the living room. A blue vase lay shattered in a nearby corner, colorful flowers laying sadly on the floor. Two fillies sat on a nearby couch, strangely quiet.
“Vinyl, you’re lucky Gramma doesn’t make us pay for these things.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I guess that the flowers just jumped off of the desk. Just like th--Wait, what did you say?”
“I’m sorry.” Vinyl kept her eye fixed firmly to the floor. “I was runnin’ around and I didn’t watch where I was going, so the flowers fell. It’s my fault.”
Long Play furrowed his brow. His gaze shifted slightly, focusing on the other filly. Octavia was pointedly avoiding eye contact, her mane slightly obscuring her face. It was, however, not able to cover the burning pink that had grown on her cheeks.
“You did it, huh?” asked the colt.
Vinyl nodded.
“First time you apologized for it.”
“I’m really sorry.”
Long Play shrugged, scratching at the back of his head. “I don’t know, Gramma may be so angry that she won’t let you come back. I mean, this is the fourth time you’ve done this.”
Octavia glanced up sharply, looking between Long Play and his sister.
Vinyl nodded resolutely.
“It wasn’t her!” said Octavia. “I did it!”
“Tavi!”
“I’m sorry, Long Play. Can Vinyl come back?” Octavia looked up sadly, a slight tremble in her lower lip.
“Well, now that we know that it wasn’t her, she probably could.” Long Play’s horn glowed a soft red and the mess in the corner floated upwards. “Just be careful, yeah?”
Octavia nodded violently. Vinyl nodded as well, a pout quickly growing on her face.
Long Play turned away, directing the dirt and glass towards a nearby trash can and right in front of Harmonia Philharmonica who had just walked into the room, holding a broom and dustpan in her hoof.
The colt tried for a polite smile. “Evening, Harmonia.”
“Good evening.” Harmonia watched as the broken vase dropped into its new home. She bit back a sigh. “Make sure that you place the flowers in another vase.” Harmonia turned around, heading back from whence she came.
Long Play rolled his eyes. “Aye, aye, captain. Nice to see you too. Celestia damned as--” He glanced at the fillies, who were both staring intently at him “--annoying pony.” Long Play’s poked his head into the kitchen, his aura flaring again and a vase, nearly identical to the one now in the trash, floated out of a cupboard.
Seriously, what is her problem? Long Play wandered back into the living room, absentmindedly placing the rhododendrons into the new vase. Did I do something wrong? Pissed her off? If she has a problem, I’d really appreciate if she’d just tell me what it was.
“Thank you Long Play, you’re such a dear.”
The colt started at Gramma Phone’s voice. “It-It was nothing Gramma. Glad to help.”
The elder mare smiled proudly, turning to include the fillies in her next statement. “Record and I set up dinner, if you all would care to join us.”
***
“Record, I can honestly say that I cannot remember one bit of that.”
“Melodia, it wasn’t even too long ago! In fact, it’s only been some two weeks; I remember because that was the day that--”
“Tavi, wanna hear a joke?”
Octavia nodded expectantly.
“Knock knock.”
Long Play closed his eyes, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hooves. The dinner, a veritable banquet of food that only a mother could cook, had left him feeling sluggish. And it doesn’t help that she’s right there.
Harmonia Philharmonica sat immediately across from him, poking at her peas with a fork.
She eats her peas one by one, thought Long Play. What kind of a monster is she?
“Interrupting cow w--”
“MOOOOOOO!”
Octavia made a high-pitched squeak, seizing up and nearly falling out of her seat. Vinyl was laughing hysterically, a few snorts thrown in there that only redoubled her laughter.
“Vinyl, that’s not funny!” protested Octavia. “That scared me!”
“Maybe you’re just a ‘fraidy cat!”
Octavia turned slightly pink. “I am not!”
“Are too!”
“Am not!”
“‘Fraidy cat!”
Long Play massaged the sides of his head. I hate foals. So much. I don’t know how much more of this I can take before I snap.
“Who wants dessert?” asked Gramma Phone.
Definitely until after dessert, though.
“I do!” said the fillies in tandem.
Gramma walked into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a cheesecake, covered in strawberries and lined with chocolate syrup, that would put most any bakery to shame. The elder mare passed out a slice to each pony at the table.
“None for me, thank you Nana,” said Harmonia.
“Nonsense dear. Take the piece.”
“I’m already rather full,” she insisted. “And, in any case, I have some reports to work on.” Harmonia made to get up from the table.
“Harmonia, dear,” said Gramma with a deceptively sweet smile, “sit your flank back down and eat the slice. Must we go through this for every dinner?”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“Of course, dear.” Gramma Phone turned towards Long Play. “I swear, she’s a very nice pony. But she is rather socially inept. Not to mention that she has the largest sweet tooth I’ve ever seen.”
“Nana! Why are you telling him that?” Harmonia endeavoured to be as impassive as possible.
Long Play cut a chunk out of his cheesecake, throwing a dirty glare at Harmonia. “Really Gramma? I hadn’t heard about it.”
“Oh yes, she does this anytime I bring out anything that’s even remotely unhealthy. She always ends up eating it, though. Comes back for seconds too!” Gramma Phone laughed lightly.
Harmonia scowled down at her plate, delicately cutting into her dessert before bringing it up to her mouth. “I still don’t know why you’re bringing this up now,” she muttered.
“Well, we can’t have Long Play thinking that this is how you are all the time.”
Harmonia threw a glare at the colt. “Is that what he thinks?”
Long Play held up his hooves helplessly. “Why am I in trouble?! I haven’t even said anything!”
Harmonia let out a slight huff, stabbing at her slice of cheesecake savagely.
“Now, Harmonia,” said Gramma sweetly, “that’s no way to treat a guest. Have you already forgotten your manners?” Everyone at the table felt a chill go up there spine at the elder mare’s sweet tone.
Harmonia looked up reluctantly, fixing a look on Long Play that she would forever regret her next actions. “I’m sorry.”
The colt shrugged but didn’t say anything, opting instead to work on his dessert.
“Long Play,” warned Vinyl Record.
He let a long stream of air out of his nostrils. “‘S alright.” They went back to eating, the scrape of forks on plates nearly deafening in the silence.
“Are they falling in love?” asked Vinyl.
Long Play and Harmonia’s level of synchronization would put most Olympic-level synchronized divers to shame. They dropped their forks, not even allowing it to clatter to their plates before turning to the filly. Their faces were mirrored in confusion, then surprise, then anger.
“With him?!” shouted Harmonia.
“With her?!” shouted Long Play
“No!” they shouted together.
A beat of silence
Harmonia and Long Play turned towards one another. “What’s that suppose to mean?” they asked each other. Neither answered, wordlessly agreeing to lapse into simmering silence.
“Well,” said Gramma with a smile, “isn’t it nice to have a get together?”
“Honestly Long Play, what is the matter with you?!” Vinyl Record gave her son’s ear one last twist.
“Ow!” Long Play pulled away, rubbing at a bright red ear. “It’s not my fault! She was being an as--OW!”
Vinyl Record had twisted his ear again. “Don’t use that kind of language around Vinyl!”
“Yeah!” agreed the filly. “I’m young and impressable!”
Record patted her daughter’s head. “That’s right, you tell him.” She threw a glare at Long Play. Vinyl Scratch smiled happily.
“So much for loving us equally,” mumbled the colt. Vinyl Record held up a hoof threateningly. Long Play flinched against his will.
“Tomorrow,” began the elder mare, “I want you to go back there and apologize to Melodia for dinner. And to Harmonia as well if she’s still there.”
“Why do I have to apologize?! It’s as much her fault as mine!”
“Because I said so.”
Long Play narrowed his eyes. “I hate when you say that.”
“Too bad.”
“Yeah, too bad!” Vinyl Scratch stuck out her tongue.
Long Play’s scowl shifted towards his sister. “Maybe I should just go back to Canterlot.”
“Not until you apologize,” said Vinyl Record resolutely. “Besides, speaking to Harmonia will do you good. You two certainly hit it off.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Vinyl Record smiled. “Nothing, dear. Now go to sleep, it’s getting a bit late.”
Long Play rolled his eyes. “And you wonder why I never visit.”
“Mommy?” asked Vinyl. “If LP and Harmonia get married, can I still marry Tavi?”
A few beats of silence.
“We’re not getting married!” shouted Long Play.
“That's right, dear. They’re not even dating yet,” added Vinyl Record. “But no, I don’t think you could marry her if they get married first.”
“We’re not getting married!”
The filly pointed a hoof at Long Play. “I’m going to marry Tavi before you marry Harmonia!”
“WE’RE NOT--” Long Play placed a hoof on his cheek. “Whatever. This is why I left for Canterlot in the first place.” He began his march to his old room. “I’ll be leaving tomorrow.” The door shut firmly behind him.
Vinyl Scratch watched him walk away. “Mommy, I think he’s angry.”
“He always has been a bit touchy about these things.” A pause. “Why don’t you head off and brush your teeth? It’s almost bedtime.”
"Kay!"
***
“Harmonia, when is Vinyl coming back?”
“I’m not sure,” said Harmonia with a soft smile. “Sometime soon, most likely.”
Octavia drew the blankets up to her chin. “How soon?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tomorrow?”
Harmonia’s smile widened slightly. “You’re infatuated with her, aren’t you?”
Octavia’s face scrunched slightly. “Infatuated means like?”
“That’s right.”
Octavia smiled brightly at having known such a long word. “Yes! I infatuate her.” She pronounced ‘infatuate’ uncertainly, pausing slightly after every syllable.
Harmonia giggled. She quickly walked towards the closet, taking down a rather thick blanket and throwing it over her sister, covering the filly completely. Octavia laughed as she fought her way to the surface.
“Manehattan nights are cold,” said Harmonia factually. “Make sure that you stay under your blankets.”
Octavia nodded, snuggling a bit deeper into her blankets.
Harmonia reached back into the closet, pulling out a slightly thinner blanket for herself. She spread it out along the floor.
“Are you going to sleep down there?” asked Octavia.
The elder mare nodded. “It would be a bit too cramped with both of us in that bed. And Nana doesn’t have another room.”
Octavia scooted to the side, struggling to lift up a corner of the heavy blankets.
“What are you doing?” asked Harmonia.
“Manehattan nights are cold!” Octavia pointed a hoof at her sister. “You need to stay warm.”
“I’ll be fine, the floor is surprisingly comfortable and, apparently, rather good for posture.”
Octavia pouted, stamping on the now empty side of the bed with a tiny hoof. “No. That looks cold. I don’t want you to get sick.”
Harmonia climbed back to her hooves with a smile. “You’re stubborn.”
“You’re cold.”
The sisters shared a bed. It was, as Harmonia predicted, rather cramped. But not uncomfortable. And it was certainly warm.
“Harmonia?”
“Yes?”
“Why were you mean to Vinyl’s big brother?”
Harmonia stiffened slightly. “It’s late, dear. Try to get to sleep.”
“Is it because you infatuate him?”
“I don’t infatuate him! And that’s not how you use the word ‘infatuate’. You become infatuated with somepony.”
“Oh.” Octavia paused. “Is it because you’re infatuated with him?”
“I’m not infatuated with anything!”
“But Vinyl said that you were falling in love!”
Harmonia stayed silent.
“Harmonia?”
“You fillies say a lot of things.”
Octavia paused again. “Nana said that you were falling in love too.”
“Nana also says a lot of things. She’s going senile in her old age.”
“What’s ‘senile’?”
A few beats of silence. Harmonia sighed. “Something not nice that nopony should say about Nana.”
“Why did you say it?”
“Because one little filly keeps bothering me about my relationships.”
“So you do have a relationship with him!” squeaked Octavia happily.
“Go to sleep, Octavia!”
There was a pounding on the wall. Gramma Phone’s warm, worn voice floated into the room. “Both of you get to sleep! And I’m not senile!”
“I’m sorry, Nana!” Harmonia called back. “We’ll head to sleep right now!” She lowered her voice. “Won’t we, Octavia?”
The filly nodded.
***
Manehattan nights are cold. Long Play breathed out, watching his breath spiral up and out of sight. The ends of his scarf, a two-toned wooly affair the same shade as his mane, glowed red, pulling and tightening slightly against the chill. Maybe I should go in and get my hat. He stayed where he was, puffing out a few more clouds of his breath and watching them until they swirled out of existence.
It must be about ten, he thought. How can ponies sleep this early? Long Play paused, images of ponies of all shapes and sizes that would be streaming into the Stable right around that time. Regulars, newbies, probably a few legal-age birthdays that would end up outrageously drunk and either obnoxious or passed out. Or maybe both, one right after the other.
Long Play sighed. I miss Canterlot already. He set off down the street, no real destination in mind, his hooves remembering his old streets far better than his mind did. Long Play could have walked that path while blind. Down a block, turn right, head straight ahead for three blocks to get to Manehattan Park. The old hangout. There was a shop around there, where the more headstrong and slightly older colts would try to buy some hard cider or a pack of cigarettes. Long Play chuckled.
Celestia, we were stupid. Long Play grinned. But who wasn’t, right?Except for Harmonia, maybe. I have a hard time seeing her as a foal. He shrugged, trying to push his mind from that train of thought. Whatever. That’s her problem… Whatever that problem actually is. An image of Harmonia swam into Long Play’s mind. She had smiled a few times. Laughed once or twice too. She was kind of cute when she smiled.
Long Play felt his mind clamp down on that train of thought. Think of something else! Now! Oooo, look! Trees! Fascinating.
His hooves had carried him straight ahead for three blocks, right onto the edge of Manehattan Park. Come on, thought Long Play, there’s more important things than Harmonia Philharmonica. Like… Whether that store is still open or not! Yeah, that’s it. I’ll just check to see if it’s still there and not a SunBucks yet.
Long Play nodded resolutely, turning sharply into the park, making a beeline to where he remembered the shop was.
“Is it that hard for you idiots to understand? I don’t want to go with you!”
Long Play’s ears perked up, his head automatically snapping towards the voice. Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.
Harmonia Philharmonica stood a ways away, right along the path to the old store. She was practically surrounded by three stallions, each of them sneering unpleasantly.
“‘Idiots’ she says,” said one of the stallions, a bright red pegasus, turning to grin at his companions. “That hurts ya know, that really hurts.”
“Yeah!” agreed a tan earth pony, his voice slightly thick. “Really, really hurts.”
“Ya mind walkin’ us to the hospital, Miss?” asked the first, turning towards Harmonia. “On account of you hurtin’ us so bad.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Harmonia spoke resolutely, trying to hide the shaking in her back legs.
It didn’t work. “Hey!” This was the last stallion, a teal blue pegasus. “Look at her, she’s shaking! You’re scaring her, Red!”
“Awwww,” said Red understandingly. “No need to be scared, Miss. I’ll comfort you.” His sneer deepened slightly. They walked a few steps towards Harmonia.
Harmonia took a deep breath, her shaking starting to spread. She would scream, somepony had to hear if she screamed. But the noise wouldn’t co--
“There you are!” Long Play trotted forward calmly, shouldering through two of the stallions. “I’ve been looking all over for you! Come on, the reservations are only good for another half hour.”
“I--You,” stuttered Harmonia.
“Hey, hey!” said Red. “You’re this lady’s friend? We’re trying to be her friends too, so why don’t you step aside and let us get acquainted?”
Long Play smiled comfortingly, never turning away from Harmonia. “Come on, let’s go.” He nudged her slightly, trying to get her to walk away.
“Hey, you listenin’ to us?” asked the tan earth pony. He shoved Long Play’s shoulder roughly. “Hey!”
Long Play turned smoothly, blinking as though he had only just noticed the colts. “Evening. Can I help you?”
“Yeah, you can disappear,” said the earth pony threateningly. The teal pegasus was looking at Long Play strangely.
“Oh yeah, that’d be good,” said Long Play thoughtfully. “I’d quite like to disappear; it sounds like a lot of fun.” He wrapped a protective hoof over Harmonia, drawing her to his side, putting himself between her and the stallions. “Problem is, I’ve promised this young lady that I’d go on a date with her. I can’t really be going back on my promises.”
Red raised an eyebrow. “That’s real chivalrous of ya. Now get the buck out of here.”
“Yeah, it’s a bit of an outdated idea,” said Long Play with a shrug, “but I’m a bit of an old-fashioned guy. A lot of people around here used to follow that whole ‘keeping your promises’ thing. I miss those days.”
The other pegasus’s face lit with realization. He floated up, hovering slightly as he whispered something into Red’s ear.
“This guy?” asked Red in disbelief.
The other pegasus nodded.
Red looked at Long Play, squinting slightly, trying to match the two-tone red mane, light blue eyes, the earring in his right ear. “You,” he began, “what’s your name?”
Long Play shrugged again. “You know, it kinda depends on who you ask. But you’re Red, right? At least, that what you’re going by. Yeah, I’ve heard about you, hanging around the Park with your little group, bothering a bunch of ponies. There’ve been a lot of complaints about you three.”
“Red,” said the other pegasus nervously. “Red, we gotta go.”
Red set his jaw, still squinting at Long Play. “Alright. Let’s go.” He turned sharply, quickly flanked by his two companions. They began to walk away.
Red flared his wings, flapping them once and twisting, his left hoof cocked back, swinging forward. A light red aura sprouted around his hoof, yanking it upward and keeping it there, making Red seem like an eager, questioning student.
“Lot a complaints, Red.” Long Play’s voice had gone colder, losing a bit of the carelessness from before. “Don’t let me see you again.” The aura dissipated, dropping Red unceremoniously onto the ground. The pegasus rubbed at his hoof, nodded once, then quickly trotted out of sight.
Long Play turned, smiling at Harmonia. “Well, let’s get going.”
“What are you doing here?” asked Harmonia.
The colt nudged her slightly, speaking in a low voice. “Walk for now. They might still be listening.” They walked onwards, Long Play keeping a one-sided conversation the entire time. They quickly left Manehattan Park, stopping in front of an old store, a bright neon light that read “Closed” shining in the window.
Long Play smiled slightly. “It’s still here.”
"What are you doing here?!" repeated Harmonia fiercely, knocking Long Play's hoof away.
Long Play scowled. "I was just talking a walk. Trying to work a bit of the nostalgia off. Sorry for trying to help you."
"I didn't need it."
"No, you just don't want my help," replied Long Play coldly. "There's a difference."
Harmonia stayed silent, turning away slightly.
Long Play let out a clouded sigh. "And you?"
"Pardon?"
"What are you going out here?"
Harmonia looked down, reddening slightly. She mumbled unintelligibly.
Long Play arched an eyebrow. "What was that?"
"I... like parks," she repeated, still firmly facing the ground.
"You like parks?"
Harmonia nodded.
"So... You came out to the middle of Manehattan, in the dark, to see the park?"
Harmonia nodded, her face burning red.
Long Play let out a chuckle, a spark of a laugh that quickly lit into a fire. "You--you!" Long Play broke off, laughing too hard to finish his statements.
Harmonia's head snapped upwards, cheeks burning and eyes slightly watery. "Stop that! It's not funny!"
Long Play's hung down, his body shaking with laughter. "I-I can't! I can't!"
Harmonia's hoof lashed out, lightly striking Long Play's side. Long Play felt a quick bite of pain, twitching away from the blow. His laughter subsided slightly, turning into a few occasional bubbles of chuckling. He wiped a bit of drool from the side of his mouth, turning towards Harmonia with a grin.
The mare glared back at him, her mouth beginning to open, a scolding right on the tip of her tongue. She sneezed a dainty squeak of a sneeze. Long Play's grin thinned out slightly. His eyes quickly scanned over Harmonia. No sweater or jacket or scarf.
Long Play's magic flared, wrapping around his scarf and unwrapping it from his neck. It floated over to Harmonia and began to tie itself around her neck.
Harmonia started, trying to get away from the scarf. "What are you doing?"
Long Play's snout scrunched in focus. "Manehattan nights are cold."
"I don't need--"
"Hold still, this is hard." Long Play's tongue poked out slightly as he tried to magically tie the scarf.
Harmonia stayed still.
The scarf made one last knot, firmly in place and keeping out the chill. Long Play nodded in satisfaction. "There. Perfect."
Harmonia lifted one of the scarf's ends, stretching it slightly. It went well past the other end. "This is very sloppy."
Long Play rolled his eyes. "Well sore--"
"But it's warm." Harmonia looked up, locking eyes with Long Play. She smiled, her cheeks slightly flushed in the cold. "Thank you, Long Play."
The colt stared for a moment, then looked away, self-consciously scratching at his own cheek. "Yeah. No problem. We should be getting home. I'll walk you." A pause. "Just to make sure that you get home okay!" He added hurriedly.
Harmonia turned away, glancing back towards the ground. "If... If it isn't too much trouble."
The walk passed in silence, both of them caught in their own thoughts, stealing the occasional glance at one another, their eyes meeting, before they both quickly looked away. Before long, they stood in front of their homes, lingering slightly on the sidewalk.
Harmonia stood in her home's entrance, her breathing quick, a slightly red tinge in her cheeks. Images of Long Play danced through her head. When he pushed past those other stallions. His laugh, bright and carefree. The way his tongue poked out and his brow slightly furrowed when he was tying his scarf around her neck.
The scarf. Harmonia's hoof shot to her neck, resting on the two tones of red. Damn it, she thought. I'll have to hide this. Harmonia walked quietly through the living room, exaggerating her steps, making sure that she never got too close to the room's various tables and chairs, flinching every time the wooden floor let out a squeak of protest.
"Quietly," Harmonia whispered to herself, easing a hoof onto the floor. "Easy does it. Don't be too loud. Like a leaf. I'm a leaf in a gentle breeze."
A small, high-pitched giggle sounded from the kitchen, quickly followed by the poorly imitated sound of blowing wind
Harmonia acted in a flash, tearing the scarf from her neck and throwing it over her shoulder before so much as turning towards the kitchen entrance. A small grey filly stood there, a glass of milk balanced on her head and a wide grin on her face.
"Octavia," whispered Harmonia. "What are you still doing awake?"
"What are you doing being a leaf?"
Harmonia felt some more heat infuse her cheeks. "I wasn't being a leaf."
Octavia's smile stayed in its place. "That's not what I heard."
Harmonia shook her head, walking out of the living room and into the bedroom she and her sister shared. Octavia entered the room a moment later, her little hooves softly patting against the floor.
"Where were you?" asked Octavia.
"Out."
"That's not pacific! You have to be pacific!" The filly pouted angrily.
“Specific is the word you’re looking for, dear,” said Harmonia.
“Oh.” There was a pause. Harmonia walked around the room, drawing the blinds closed before coming to a rest on the bed. Octavia joined her, forced to almost climb up the blankets.
“Harmonia?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Did you go see Vinyl’s brother?”
Harmonia jolted upwards. “What makes you think that?!”
“The scarf was the same color as his mane.”
“What scarf? I wasn’t wearing a scarf!”
“The scarf that you threw away when you came into the house.”
“Oh,” said Harmonia. “That scarf.”
“So did you see him?” Octavia asked with a grin.
“I…” Harmonia hung her head, defeated by a filly. “Yes, I ran into him.”
Octavia’s face lit up. “How romantic,” she said, clapping her front hooves together softly.
“Hardly. We just happened to cross paths. Nothing more.”
“Did he walk you home?” asked the filly. “All of the stories say that the stallion should walk his mare home.”
“I-I’m not--What,” Harmonia sputtered, her face tinged pink, “What stories have you been reading?!”
“Your stories.”
Harmonia felt something in her stomach drop. “Which of my stories?”
“The ones on your bookshelf at home.” Octavia turned her head quizzically. “Are there other ones?”
Harmonia shook her head fiercely. “N-no! Of course not! Go to sleep already; it’s way past your bedtime!” Harmonia grabbed the bed sheets and turned sharply, suddenly well nestled in the blankets, leaving only her muzzle exposed to the rest of the room. “Good night, Octavia.”
The filly stared at the lump of blankets. “I think you two look cute together,” she mumbled.
“Good night, Octavia!”
“Good night, sister.”
***
Long Play tiptoed into his old home with a practiced hoof. He traced the walls, carefully placing his hooves where the floorboards were less likely to squeak, managing to cross the living room in a few short seconds, ending up in the short hallway that connected the rest of the house.
Out of curiosity and some brotherly instinct, Long Play poked his head into Vinyl’s room. The filly lay in her bed, her hooves wrapped around a small teddy bear. The small pile of blankets staving off the Manehattan cold rose and fell with her small, steady breaths.
I’m gonna marry Tavi before you marry Harmonia!
“Silly filly,” whispered Long Play, softly shutting the door and turning to trot towards his room. “Who’s gonna get married?”
His room was much the same way that he had remembered it. Shelves of nick-nacks and old, worn books, recently dusted by the look of them. Posters of artists that Long Play used to swear by hanging on the walls; a bright red lava lamp sat on the nightstand, the goop inside of the lamp laying motionless in the cold.
Long Play surveyed all of this with a smile, telekinetically flipping a switch on the lava lamp. Light shone from the bottom of the lamp, brightening the room slightly, but the goop stayed still, no yet warmed by the lightbulb.
The colt trotted over to his closet, reaching up to his neck and pulling at his sca--
One of Long Play’s hooves acted immediately, swinging upwards and coming to rest on his face with an audible smack.
“I’ll have to get that from her,” he muttered. His magic flared again, throwing open the closet doors. The space, once filled with random bits of snarky t-shirts and free things he had gotten from various concerts, now lay mostly bare. A shelf ran along the top of the closet, almost against the ceiling, just the way that Long Play had left it.
The colt reared up, reaching his front hooves into the small space. Long Play’s hoof patted around for a few moments, stopping when he felt the small cardboard box. He brought it down, carrying it with him as he trotted over to his bed.
Long Play nestled into a comfortable position before reaching into the slightly smushed box. The colt pulled out a frame, worn with age, the red-brown wood slightly chipped. The glass was dusty. Long Play smiled sadly, running a hoof over the picture, revealing a family.
Four ponies stood on the other side of the glass. Two children and two parents. Long Play must have been 15 or so, smiling up at the camera, his two-toned red mane messy and uncombed. Vinyl Record stood behind him, looking far younger than the colt could remember her.
Vinyl Scratch was too young to stand on her own. She was wrapped in a blanket, staring blankly at the camera with her bright red eyes. A dull blue pegasus with a red mane held her, grinning proudly out of the picture, his wing extended to wrap around his wife and his son. His purple shades, as much a part of him as his wings, rested on his forehead, revealing scarlet eyes that sparkled with a manic, amused energy.
“Hey Dad,” whispered the colt. “It’s been awhile. Sorry that I couldn’t visit more often. I’ve been… busy. And I know that you’d want to stay here. Canterlot’s nice, though! I’m sure that you’d like it. There’s always something to do."
The picture stayed silent.
“Or maybe you’ve had enough of that. I don’t know.” A slight pause. “Vinyl got her cutie mark while we were in Canterlot. A pair of bridged eighth notes. They’re turned the wrong way though. No idea why.”
Long Play laid back in his bed, floating the box onto the floor and the picture onto his nightstand.
“So she’ll be a musician, Dad,” continued Long Play. “As if there aren’t enough of those in this family, right?” He chuckled slightly. Silence dominated over the room again. “And, uh, she’s not the only new musician hanging around. We met Gramma’s grandchildren. Yeah. Octavia and Harmonia. Vinyl’s in love with Octavia, so that’s pretty cute. And Harmonia… she’s nice. I guess. She’s pretty cute too.” Long Play winced as soon as the words were out. “Just don’t tell Vinyl that I said that. Or Mom. They’d never shut up about it.”
The colt turned over slightly, drawing his blankets around him. “Anyway, it’s getting pretty late. Good night, Dad.” A soft red glow sprouted over Long Play’s horn, flipping the lava lamp’s switch again. The room plunged into darkness.
The lava lamp clicked on again.
“Oh, almost forgot.”
A pair of garish purple shades floated out of the cardboard box, carried up by Long Play’s aura. They floated over to the nightstand, coming to a stop right in front of the family portrait. “Can’t have you without those, can we?” Long Play smiled to himself.
“Good night, Dad.”
***
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Long Play?”
Silence.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Long Play!”
Rattle. Rattle.
“Honestly, this colt.”
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Long Play! Wake up!”
The colt’s eyes fluttered open. Long Play stayed still for a few moments, squinting into empty space.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Long Play! You have a visitor! Get your flank up!”
Long Play groaned, his magic flaring and quickly putting away the picture and the glasses.
“LONG PLAY!”
Long Play hastily shoved the cardboard box under his bed. He stumbled over to the door, fumbling against the lock until something gave. The door swung open, leaving Long Play blinking down at the figure of Vinyl Record.
“It’s about time!” said the mare testily. “Do you not understand that it’s rude to keep a lady waiting?”
“Sorry, Mom.” Long Play yawned and scratched a particularly itchy part of his butt. “Really, I am.”
Vinyl Record rolled her eyes. “Charming. Now get into the living room.” She walked away, Long Play following on shaky hooves.
“I’m sorry for the wait, dear,” said Vinyl Record as they entered the living room. “This one sleeps like a rock and doesn’t believe in opening doors.”
Harmonia smiled tightly, a cup of tea before her.
Long Play blinked tiredly out her. “Mornin’,” he muttered.
“Good morning.”
A slightly awkward silence filled the room. Four pairs of hooves sounded against the floor and a pair of fillies, one white and the other grey, rocketed out of Vinyl’s room, giggling amongst each other.
Long Play watched them slide to a stop. “What are you two doing up so early?”
“It’s eleven already!” said Vinyl. “It’s not early!”
Long Play groaned, scratching at his messy mane. “It is when you’re my age.”
“Good morning, Long Play!” said Octavia brightly.
“And a good morning to you, Miss Philharmonica,” replied the colt with a surprised smile. “To what do we owe this visit?”
“Harmonia wanted to see you!”
Every eye in the room turned towards Harmonia. A few beats of silence. Then Long Play smiled cheekily, running a hoof through his mane.
“Well, I suppose that you can’t really blame her.”
Octavia giggled. Both Vinyls rolled their eyes.
“I want nothing of the sort!” protested Harmonia. “Certainly not with somepony like him!”
Long Play knit his brow. “Well. That was hurtful.”
Harmonia dug into a nearby bag, drawing out a long piece of two-toned cloth. “I just wanted to return this.” She held it at hoof’s length, as if she couldn’t be far enough away from it.
“Oh yeah, you did steal that, didn’t you?”
Harmonia scowled and snapped her hoof forward, sending the scarf flying through the air and right at Long Play’s face. The colt’s magic flared and the scarf floated in place.
“Thank you,” said Long Play with his cheeky grin.
Vinyl Scratch scowled in confusion, glancing back and forth between Long Play and Harmonia. “When did she get your scarf?”
“What scarf?” Long Play tied the scarf around his neck.
“That scarf!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Vinyl’s scowl deepened. “The scarf!”
“They saw each other last night,” explained Octavia.
Vinyl Record turned towards her son, an eyebrow sharply raised. “Did they now?”
Long Play smiled. Harmonia looked away, suddenly too busy looking through her purse to answer properly.
“Then you two have gotten past not liking each other?” asked the elder mare.
The colt shrugged. Harmonia continued to dig through her bag for something that didn’t exist.
“Perfect!” said Vinyl Record happily. “Melodia and I were planning to head out on the town. There’s a new restaurant that opened up that we are dying to try.” She trotted out of the room, returning a moment later with dull blue saddlebags.
“Mom,” said Long Play, “I don’t like where this is going.”
Vinyl Record ignored him, slowly walking towards the door as she spoke. “We had planned to be there at around noon-ish, so I think that it’s best that I get going now.”
“Mom.”
“But this is perfect! You’re both here, and you get along so well. Take care of Vinyl and Octavia, would you?”
“Mom!”
“Thank you!” The door shut firmly behind the retreating mare.
Long Play stared at the door for a time, the remnants of sleep finally leaving him. He turned slowly towards Harmonia, his mouth hanging open slightly.
“Is… Is she coming back?” asked the mare.
“No. I really don’t think she is.”
“Huh.”
Vinyl walked towards Long Play, carefully nudging her brother’s hoof. “LP, does that mean Tavi’s going to stay for a bit?”
Long Play paused slightly. “Yeah, I guess it does.”
Vinyl gasped lightly, her head snapping towards Octavia with a grin. She ran towards the other filly, her hooves slipping slightly against the floor. They ran into Vinyl’s room, laughing and talking all the while.
An awkward, palpable silence reigned over the room again. Long Play and Harmonia looked around, their eyes resting everywhere except on each other.
“I,” began Long Play, “I was planning on leaving today.”
An inexplicable pit formed in the bottom of Harmonia’s stomach. “Back to Canterlot?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Oh… Well, if you need to leave, I should be able to take care of the fillies.”
Long Play stretched out his neck, quickly massaging it with a hoof. “Yeah. I probably won’t leave until the evening. But… yeah.” He paused slightly, then tossed his scarf onto a nearby chair. “I’m gonna take a shower. I didn’t get one last night. Do you mind?”
Harmonia shook her head.
“Alright,” said Long Play. “I’m gonna…” He pointed down the hallway. “Yeah.”
Harmonia nodded.
Long Play trotted down the hall and into the bathroom, making certain to lock the door behind him. He rested his hooves on the sink, staring at a scowling colt with a two-tone red mane.
Harmonia glanced around the living room, tapping her hooves against the sofa and generally looking as awkward as one feels upon being left alone in someone else’s home. It certainly didn’t help that she could hear the shower going, broken only by the occasional squeal or giggle from Vinyl and Octavia.
Showering, Harmonia decided, was a strange thing. It wasn’t a particularly large departure from being out in the rain. Actually, it was almost exactly like being out in the rain. Except that the water was warm and very few ponies carried umbrellas into the shower.
No, Long Play was standing in the shower in much the same way that he had stood out in the snow a few hours prior. Yet, the thought that Long Play was currently in the shower, a few meters away from where Harmonia sat, made the mare’s cheeks burn pink.
“You ask her.”
She had no idea why. It was definitely one of those minor differences, though. Maybe because the water was warm. The shower would be filled up with steam, fogging the mirrors, rolling off of Long Play’s body in droves of mist.
“No, you ask her.”
Harmonia’s cheeks burned a bit brighter.
“She’s your sister!”
Or maybe it was just how intimate the act of showering was. The way that Long Play would be running his hooves through his mane, over his fur, scrubbing at it carefully but roughly, making sure not to leave a single part unto--
“Harmonia?” asked Octavia.
The mare jumped straight up, launching into a fit of coughs as a bit of drool found its way into her windpipe. Harmonia reeled back, placing a hoof to her chest and trying desperately to keep her lungs from jumping out of her body.
“Harmonia?!” squeaked Octavia in worry.
“She’s dying, Tavi!” Vinyl jumped onto the couch, putting her front hooves on Harmonia’s side. “You need to breathe! Like this!” Vinyl took a deep breath, then exaggerated blowing it out. She repeated this a few times, feeling rather light-headed by the fifth or so repetition. Octavia bounced around all the while, tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to spill over as Harmonia coughed.
Harmonia waved the fillies away, breathing deeply through her mouth until she stopped coughing. “What?” she gasped. “What do you want?”
“A-are you still dying?” asked Octavia with a sniffle.
“No dear, I’m fine.” Harmonia cleared her throat. “Now, what did you want to ask?”
Octavia glanced nervously at Vinyl. Vinyl twirled one of her hooves forward, urging the other filly forward.
“Harmonia?” asked Octavia.
“Yes, dear?”
Octavia took a deep breath, then let the words tumble out. “I really like Vinyl and she wants to get married and I said ‘Okay’ but only older ponies can get married and we’re not older ponies so we have to wait until we’re older ponies but Vinyl said that you and Long Play were getting married and that we can’t get married if you and Long Play are getting married, so when are you getting married?” The filly cut off the stream of words, breathing heavily and glancing nervously up at her sister, her expression mirrored on Vinyl’s face.
Harmonia blinked. Then blinked again. “We’re… what?”
The fillies glanced at each other in confusion. Harmonia stared down at them and blinked one more time. A wave of heat sprouted around the mare’s neck, growing swiftly upwards, coloring everything it came into contact with.
“WE’RE NOT GETTING MARRIED!” shouted Harmonia, her face the exact shade of the lighter part of Long Play’s mane. The fillies jumped into the air, cringing at the sound.
A pause.
“You’re not?” asked Vinyl hopefully.
“No!”
A smile spread along Vinyl’s face, shining brighter and brighter as her smile turned into a grin. “Then can I marry Octavia?”
“Yes!” Harmonia paused. “Wait, no!”
Vinyl and Octavia glanced sharply at Harmonia, shock sprawled over their faces.
“I mean,” began Harmonia. “Maybe! I don’t know! Why, for Celestia’s sake, are you already thinking about marriage!”
Octavia knit her brow. “So are you gonna marry my Long Play?”
Harmonia threw up her hooves in frustration. A two-toned red color caught her eye. A way out. She reached down, snatching the scarf off of the couch. “I should return this to Long Play’s room. Where is it?”
Vinyl narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but pointed a tiny hoof down the hallway. “It’s that one. On the left. It says ‘LP’s room’.”
Harmonia leapt to her hooves, setting off towards Long Play’s room at a trot and throwing open the door.
“But you didn’t answer our question!” protested Octavia. The door slammed shut, leaving Harmonia in a slightly bare, slightly messy room. Long Play’s bags still stood in the corner, largely unpacked. A bright red lava lamp sat on the nightstand, the goop now serenely drifting up and down.
“Free,” said Harmonia with a sigh. “For the moment.” Her hoof twitched upward, about to toss the scarf onto Long Play’s bed, but thought better of it.
I should put this away properly.
She turned away from the bed, carefully opening the closet. It was largely empty, but rather clean. Exceptionally clean, actually, considering that nopony was actually living in that room. Harmonia hesitated, then shut the closet door.
I doubt that he’s even opened it since getting here, she thought. It may be best to leave the scarf on his bed.
Harmonia turned again, heading back towards the bed and carefully laying the scarf on the edge of the crumpled sheets. She sat down next to it, bouncing slightly on the bed.
“Well, it’s certainly rather comfortable. If a bit messy.” Harmonia hesitated, glancing back and forth nervously before laying down.
The mare sighed happily. It really was a comfortable bed. And that was the only reason she had for laying on it. Simply for its comfort and certainly not for the thought that Long Play had been laying there just a few minutes before Harmonia had. Certainly not for the fact that Harmonia could still feel the slightest bit of his warmth coming from the sheets.
It really was a very comfortable bed.
“Well… this isn’t awkward.”
Harmonia snapped upwards, almost falling off of the bed, barely aware of the fact that Long Play’s scarf had slid off of the bed. She was rather distracted by the colt standing in the doorway, a cheeky half-smile on his face as he magically scrubbed at his mane with a towel.
“Get out!” shouted Harmonia.
Long Play knit his brow in confusion. “It’s my room.”
“Get out!”
“It’s my room!”
“Pervert!”
“I’m not the one sniffing at my bed!”
Harmonia reddened again, a sensation that was becoming far more familiar with each passing day. She reached back, taking up one of Long Play’s pillows and launching it at its owner. Long Play ducked, the missile scraping the top of his newly washed mane.
“Get out!” Another pillow followed the first.
Long Play caught this pillow in his magic, then let it drop to the floor. “Alright! Alright, I’m leaving!” He turned, toweling at his mane and walking out of the door, mumbling something about stupid, crazy, sexy mares.
Harmonia sat on Long Play’s bed, a pillow still held between her hooves. She panted a few times, burying her face in the pillow to hide the remnants of her embarrassment.
“I feel stupid,” she muttered. Harmonia threw the pillow back onto the head of the bed, then got to her hooves. The other pillow, the one Long Play had caught, quickly followed. Harmonia wasn’t quite ready to go out and get the other pillow.
Harmonia reached down to pick up the scarf. A brown corner, definitely from some kind of cardboard box, poked out from under of the bed. Harmonia stared at it, her hoof still hovering over the scarf.
No, thought Harmonia with a shake of her head. No snooping. I feel ashamed of myself for even thinking it. The scarf went back onto the bed. Harmonia remained standing, her eyes wandering back to the box, then away, then back.
No! That is a betrayal of trust and I won’t allow it!
…
Maybe just a peek.
Harmonia reached down again, pulling the box out into the open, giving one last furtive glance around the room before lifting the lid. The purple shades came out first.
Harmonia held them in her hoof, holding them up to the light, her brow furrowing slightly at the smudged lenses. Why would he hide this? she wondered. Unless… Harmonia’s heart dropped by the slightest bit.
A marefriend?
A pause. Harmonia laid the glasses aside, shaking her head slightly. Dear Celestia, she thought. What do I care whether he has a marefriend or not? Good for Long Play if he does. Or if he doesn’t, that would be good too… For Long Play! That would be good for Long Play! She ran a hoof over her face. Luna banish my idiocy to the moon.
Harmonia dove back into the box, lifting up the framed picture, her nose slightly bothered by the sheer amount of dust. It was strange, really, that everything could be so clean when the box was so dirty.
The door creaked open. “Hey, I’m coming in, so cover yourself if you’re doing anything embarra--” Long Play stopped just inside the doorway, his eyes locked on the box. He blinked.
Harmonia blinked.
“That’s,” began Long Play, “that’s… Why do you have that?!” His voice grew louder, not quite shouting, but far closer than Harmonia had heard him. His magic flared, the box slamming shut and floating over towards Long Play.
Harmonia sat on the bed, the beginnings of guilt on her face.
Long Play trotted towards the closet, quickly stowing the box away in its place. He turned sharply towards Harmonia, the ever-present cheeky smile gone, replaced by a serious look. “Don’t--” Long Play broke off, his head shaking slightly as he tried to compose himself. “Don’t. Just… Don’t go through my stuff. Ever. Please.”
Harmonia looked down at her hooves.
Long Play paced in front of the closet, his breathing growing steadily calmer. “Okay… Okay, that’s fine. Did you… What did you see?”
“The glasses,” said Harmonia, gesturing to where the shades still sat. A red aura quickly sprouted over them and the floated over to Long Play. “And I know that there’s a picture, but I don’t know what it’s of.”
Long Play stayed silent, opening the closet again and floating the box back down. The lid came off. The glasses went back in. “It’s a family portrait,” mumbled Long Play. “That’s it.”
Harmonia furrowed her brow. The words came out before she could stop them. “Then why’s it hidden?”
Long Play turned again, his eyes glinting. “Don’t worry about it. C’mon, the fillies are still outside. And there’s a train leaving for Canterlot in a few hours that I really wanna catch.”
“You’re going back already?” asked Harmonia in surprise.
Long Play nodded. He turned away from the closet, marching towards the door only to pause at the doorway. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s go.”
But Harmonia still sat on the bed, her eyes fixed on the close closet door. “Long Play, what are you hiding in that box?”
“Glasses and a picture. Let’s go, I really don’t wanna leave the fillies alone.”
“Why is it so dirty?”
“Because the closet gets really dusty, can we go now?!”
Harmonia turned back towards Long Play with a strange look. He’s planning on leaving today, she thought. It’s best if I ask now. “Whose glasses were they?”
Long Play stiffened.
“And for that matter, why that picture? Why isn’t it hanging out in the open when it’s framed and entirely ready for display?”
“Dad,” said Long Play curtly. “And Dad.”
“Your father?” asked Harmonia in surprise. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your father.”
“Yes. Now please, let’s get the hell out of this room and not talk about this!”
Harmonia locked eyes with the colt. Long Play was pleading, his eyes wide as he held open his room’s door.
“Please,” he said.
“Fine.” Harmonia climbed to her hooves. “But I need you to answer one thing.”
Long Play scowled.
“Your dad. Is he… dead?”
The colt’s jaw went tight. “Yes. There. We done?”
Harmonia paused slightly, taken aback by Long Play’s response. “When did he--”
“One thing. That’s it.”
The mare took a few steps forward. “Long Play,” she said softly, “I’m really worried. We can talk about this.”
Long Play worked his jaw. Then he shook his head. Softly at first, then roughly. “No. I’ve known you for like two days. So no.”
Harmonia scowled, anger building up in her chest. “Well, we don’t have anymore time if you’re leaving today!”
“Then we won’t talk about it.”
“Long Play! For Celestia’s sake, close the door and let’s talk for a while!”
“No! Why do you care?! Just let it go!”
“Just explain the Sister-damned box!”
“Why does it matter!”
“BECAUSE I CARE!” Harmonia’s shout shook through the room. “I can hardly stand you and you’re cocky and idiotic and I’m mostly certain that Gramma and your mother somehow orchestrated our meeting, but I care about you!”
Long Play’s eyes widened. There were a few beats of silence. “Did… did you just confess to me?”
Harmonia hesitated just the slightest bit. “No. No! No of course not! But we can be friends, right? And you’re supposed to tell your friend what’s bothering you.”
Long Play stared at her. “Friends?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Just that?”
“Yes!”
A touch of cheekiness drifted back into the colt’s words. “You’re totally in love with me, aren’t you?”
Harmonia reddened for the umpteenth time that day. “No! Not with you!”
Long Play held up his hooves defensively. “Alright, alright. Careful, though, I might get you one day.”
Harmonia snorted.
The closet doors shone red and swung outwards, allowing a glowing cardboard box to float into Long Play’s waiting hooves. The colt lifted the lid, drawing out the glasses first.
“These,” he said, “are my Dad’s glasses. Or were, I guess. He never took them off.” Long Play cleared his throat. “Right, well, his name is--was--Bright Lights. He was part of the Manehattan Weather Team, in charge of making sure that Manehattan got all of its sunlight. Keep the plants in the parks alive and keep ponies reasonable warm and all that. ‘Course, he didn’t really have to work much during Winter, so he’d take another job as a technician for clubs and restaurants and, really, anyplace with lights.” Long Play nodded. “Yeah, Dad had more contacts than anypony. He was a really cool guy.”
He laid the glasses aside carefully, then reached back into the box, pulling out the picture frame. Long Play wiped at the dust with a hoof. “And this is a picture. Don’t think that I really have to explain.” He reached out, offering the picture to Harmonia. She took it, staring down at the happy family.
“How did he…” She let the question hang.
“Blinded. Flying too high on a sunny day. He tried to turn around a building, the sunlight caught off of a window. He couldn’t see and he… he crashed into the building. Knocked him out. Then he fell and--” A pause “--and yeah. That’s it.”
Harmonia turned back towards the picture. A happy family. Laughing colt, smiling mom, oblivious foal, proud father. Picture perfect.
“Mom,” continued Long Play, “doesn’t like having pictures of him around. That’s why I had to hide this one. They had been married for almost 30 years when it happened.”
Harmonia nodded. “It still hurts.”
“Yeah. Yeah, it does.”
They sat there for a few moments more both of them staring down at the picture.
Long Play spoke first. “You know, he thought that I liked colts.”
Harmonia started, glancing sharply at Long Play.
The colt smiled. “Yeah, tried to pull me aside and have ‘the talk’ and everything. It was around the time that I pierced my ear, actually. He said that he didn’t care what I did, so long as I loved the one I was with.” Long Play grinned. “He just didn’t wanna hear about anything specific.”
Harmonia giggled, then slammed a hoof over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t laugh.”
“Nah, go ahead. Dad loved making ponies laugh. Especially when he could make them blush at the same time.”
“I wish that I could have met him.”
“Yeah. He would have liked you. But that feeling you’re getting? About how Gramma Phone and Mom are trying to set us up? A million times worse if Dad were here.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. So much worse.”
Another pause.
Long Play watched as a few drops of water fell onto the picture frame. His vision swam, pressure forming right between his eyes
Harmonia sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed, her gaze shifting back and forth over the bare room, anywhere but at the sobbing unicorn.
What am I supposed to do? she thought. Pat him? “There, there. It’s okay.” Yes, that seems like a suitable response... I feel like I should have more experience at this kind of thing.
Harmonia raised a hoof, placing it against Long Play’s foreleg. She did it again, the movement jerky and stiff.
“There, there,” she said. “It’s okay.”
Long Play glanced at the hoof, then up at Harmonia. His blue eyes were tinged with red, a layer of tears glazing over the surface. “Wh-What are you doing?”
Harmonia hesitated the slightest bit. “Er… Comforting you?”
Long Play’s face twisted the slightest bit. “You’re… You’re really bad at it.”
“Well, excuse me for trying to help!” Harmonia crossed her hooves testily.
“Nah, it’s fine,” said Long Play, wiping at his eyes with a hoof. “I guess it’s just not in your nature.”
Harmonia bristled. “I’ll have you know that I am a very caring pony!”
“Yeah, it shows.”
“I take care of Octavia all the time!”
“Yeah, but who walked her up to see the conductor on the train?”
“I was there too!”
Long Play smiled. “That’s cute.”
Harmonia blinked. “What?”
“The way your muzzle scrunches up when you’re angry.” Long Play’s smiled widened slightly. “It’s cute.”
“My muzzle does nothing of the sort!”
“You get really red when you’re angry. That’s cute too.”
“Stop it!”
Long Play laughed, wiping away the last few tears. “Did your voice just crack? Dear Celestia, you’re the most adorable thing ever. I just wanna pinch your cheeks.” Long Play’s hoof came forward, slowly inching towards Harmonia.
“I swear to the Royal Sisters, Long Play, I’ll slap you all the way to the Griffon Kingdom if you touch me.”
Long Play’s made contact, stopping directly on the tip of Harmonia’s muzzle.
“Boop.”
***
“Long Play, were you crying?”
“No Vinyl. Colts don’t cry.”
“Then why are your eyes red?”
“Why are your eyes red?”
Vinyl crossed her eyes, trying to see her own scarlet irises. “I don’t know. Tavi, why are my eyes red?”
Octavia chewed her food thoughtfully. “Do you eat a lot of red things?”
“I like Red Vines.”
“That’s why,” said Octavia with a satisfied nod. “It’s like when flamingos eat a lot of shrimp and turn pink. Except that it only works on your eyes.”
“Wow,” marveled Vinyl.
Long Play and Harmonia shared a look, then turned back towards their food, laughing softly to themselves.
Octavia glanced at the two older ponies, her purple eyes bouncing back and forth until she worked up the courage to lean over to Harmonia. “Harmonia,” she whispered, “is Long Play embarrassed?”
Harmonia knit her brow. “How do you mean?” She took a sip of her water.
“His cheek is red. But only one is red, so I can’t tell if he’s embarrassed or not.”
Harmonia snorted, spilling a bit of water onto the table and quickly wiping it away with a napkin. “No Octavia,” she said with a laugh, “he’s not embarrassed.”
“Who’s embarrassed?” asked Long Play.
Octavia turned quickly back to her food. Harmonia smiled tauntingly. For a time, the only sound in the room was that of silverware on plates.
“To be honest,” said Harmonia, “I’m surprised that you can cook, Long Play.”
“I live alone in Canterlot. If I couldn’t cook for myself, I’d either be starving or broke. Or both. Probably both.” Long Play took a bite of his pasta, slurping up one of the longer strands. He turned towards Vinyl, expecting a laugh, but the filly seemed lost in thought.
Harmonia’s muzzle scrunched slightly. “Manners could do with a bit more polish.”
“In Neighpon, slurping your food is polite,” countered Long Play. “It shows that you’re enjoying it.”
“Well, we’re not exactly in Neighpon, are we?”
Long Play opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but found nothing. He speared a fork back into his food. “You win this round.”
“Tavi,” said Vinyl. “How did you get purple eyes?”
“She probably ate something purple,” said Long Play through a mouthful of food.
Vinyl pouted. “I want purple eyes like yours. They’re pretty.”
The other filly looked down at her food, a small smile playing against her lips. “I like your eyes too, Vinyl.”
Vinyl grinned, evidently pleased at the compliment. A thought flashed across the filly’s face, and she jumped from her chair. “Wait here!” she squeaked. “I’m gonna make my eyes purple.” Vinyl Scratch dashed out of the dining room.
Long Play and Harmonia shared a look.
“Should I go after her?” asked Octavia.
A pause. Long Play shook his head. “Nah. She’s probably just getting something purple.”
“Do you have anything purple?” asked Harmonia.
Long Play thought for a moment. No. Nothing. Everything that he had was either a two-tone red or some variation of the same. Besides, most everything was packed away in preparation for his trip back to Canterlot.
“I don’t think so,” said the colt hesitantly.
Vinyl’s voice carried back to the others. “I found them!”
Harmonia knit her brow. “Long Play,” she said slowly. “There’s one thing.”
Four small hooves sounded against the floor, slipping slightly as they did. Vinyl let out a cry, streaking past the dining room’s entrance in a blur of two-toned blue and white. A low thud sounded through the room.
Long Play was the first to his hooves. He rushed through the doorway, already worriedly hovering over his sister as Harmonia and Octavia were just rounding into the hall.
“Vinyl,” said Long Play urgently, “are you okay?”
“My head hurts.” Vinyl rubbed a hoof weakly though her mane.
“Here, lean towards me.”
The filly complied, leaning her head towards her brother. Long Play gingerly placed a hoof on Vinyl’s head, feeling for anything irregular.
“Nothing’s bleeding,” muttered Long Play, “so that’s good.” He spent a few more moments on his sister, turning Vinyl’s head this way and that, inspecting everything he could think of.
“My head hurts,” said Vinyl softly.
“Well, it doesn’t look too bad,” said Long Play with relief. Then he scowled. “Seriously Vinyl, how many times has Mom told you not to run in the house?!”
“I wanted to get back to the table!”
“You could walk!”
“Long Play,” cut in Harmonia, “she’s okay.”
The colt glared at his sister for a few beats. He reached out, ruffling her mane with a hoof. “Be careful, kid. I’ve only got one sister.”
Vinyl ducked away from the hoof, unable to completely keep a smile from her face. “Okay. I’ll be careful.”
Long Play smiled. “Good.”
Octavia craned her neck around the older ponies, her eyes shining with worry. “Is… is Vinyl okay?”
“She’s fine,” said Long Play.
Vinyl kept rubbing at her head. “My head still hurts.”
“Maybe Octavia could kiss it and make it feel better.”
Every eye in the room snapped towards Harmonia.
“What?” challenged the mare.
Long Play blinked. “Nothing. It was just… Did you really say that?”
“It was just a joke!”
“I’d let Tavi kiss me!” squeaked Vinyl excitedly.
Octavia trotted forward quickly, weaving between the legs of the older ponies. She stopped right by Vinyl, hesitated just the slightest moment, then quickly pecked the top of Vinyl’s head.
“Better?” asked a red-faced Octavia.
Vinyl nodded dreamily. “Yeah.”
Long Play glanced furtively at Harmonia, his eyes lingering on her lips for perhaps a few more moments than necessary. Harmonia did not catch the movement.
“What were you in such a rush to get?” asked Octavia, the blush on her cheeks slightly fading.
Vinyl’s eyes were still slightly glazed over. “Hmmmm?”
“What did you run to get?” asked Octavia with exaggerated patience.
“I came to get…” Vinyl’s eyes snapped into focus, her gaze swiping back and forth along the floor until they locked onto something. “Oh no.”
The others moved in tandem, following Vinyl’s gaze and stopping right on the threshold to the dining room. Shards of purple glass littered the floor. The frames were bent, the handles poking out at strange angles.
“Glasses?” asked Octavia.
Vinyl’s eyes watered, the beginnings of tears forming at their corners. “LP, I’m sorry. I’m really really sorry.”
Long Play was silent, his eyes fixed on the remains of his father’s shades. He worked his jaw, trying to get some moisture into a suddenly dry mouth. Long Play’s magic flared and the pieces slowly floated upwards.
“Long Play?” asked Harmonia.
Vinyl had begun to cry, sobs forcing her to stutter her words. “L-LP, I-I know you said not to get your stuff b-but I s-saw the glasses a-and they looked like Tavi’s eyes and I… I--” Vinyl sobbed wordlessly. Octavia wrapped a hoof around her.
“It’s okay.” Long Play’s words were dry. Then, a bit more strongly: “It’s okay, Vinyl.” The glasses floating before him, Long Play trotted to his room. The door shut firmly behind him.
***
“I see.” Vinyl Record leaned back into her chair. “And he hasn’t come out of his room since then?”
Harmonia shook his head.
Record sighed, rubbing at her eyes with a hoof. She and Gramma Phone had had a perfectly nice outing, having lunch and planning Long Play and Harmonia’s life together, only to come home to this problem. “I thought that we’d lost those things. Why would he hide them away like that?”
Gramma Phone’s worn, warm voice carried from the other side of the room. “Do you really need to ask that, dear?”
Vinyl Record stayed silent.
Harmonia’s brow furrowed in confusion. Yet, she would have left the issue untouched in Melodia Philharmonica’s sharp eyes had not caught the gesture.
“Look around, Harmonia,” said the elder mare. “And use your brain, filly.”
And Harmonia did look around. She glanced at the chairs and sofas, at Gramma Phone and her warm smile, at Vinyl whose head still hung sadly, at Octavia who had not left Vinyl’s side ever since Long Play entered his room, and at Vinyl Record who wouldn’t quite meet her eye.
Then she glanced over the rest of the room, though there wasn’t much else. A fireplace, stacked with wood to stave off the Manehattan nights, the mantle where old pictures of Long Play and Vinyl Scratch and their mother sat, the bookshelf on which sat an old clock, a few books and more pictures of the family.
No, not the family. Harmonia had only seen one picture in all of the house that had the entire family.
“Bright Lights is missing,” said Harmonia.
Vinyl Record kept her gaze firmly on the ground. “I couldn’t stand it. It hurt too much.”
“So Long Play had to keep everything where he thought nopony could find it,” said Gramma Phone. Her eyes locked onto Vinyl Scratch. “But foals have a surprisingly good nose for this kind of thing.”
Vinyl sniffled a bit. “He left it under the bed once. I was trying to find his records.”
“Are you still crying about that?” asked Long Play from the back of the room.
All eyes snapped towards him. The colt stood right at the living room’s entrance, a smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes and a red suitcase standing beside him.
“Are you planning on leaving already?” asked Vinyl Record.
Long Play shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Yeah. I said that I would, remember?”
“I didn’t think you were serious.”
Long Play shrugged.
“LP,” said Vinyl Scratch, “I’m really really really sorry!”
“Don’t worry.” Long Play patted his suitcase. “I’ve got the shades right here. I know a guy in Canterlot who might be able to fix it.”
“You’re going back already?!” Harmonia’s voice carried through the room, loud enough to cause a few of the ponies to jump.
“I--I’ve got work and, you know, I’m sure that the mail’s been piling up at my house. And stuff.” Long Play ran a hoof through his mane.
“You’ve only been here for a day.”
“... I get a lot of mail.”
“When does your train leave?” asked Gramma Phone.
“I can make it if I leave right now.”
The eldest mare considered this for a while, a hoof slowly tapping at her chin. “Then you’d best get going.”
Long Play blinked, surprised. Then he nodded, lifting his luggage a bit more. “Yeah. Yeah, I should. Thanks.”
“Harmonia,” sad Gramma Phone, “I think that you should follow him, just so that there’s somepony there to see him off. Record and I will take care of the fillies.”
“I wanna go with LP!” protested Vinyl Scratch.
But Melodia shook her head. “I’m sorry dear, but you or I would just slow him down. Harmonia can keep pace, though, can’t you Harmonia?”
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.
Gramma Phone chuckled. “Not yet either. Maybe in a few more minutes.”
Vinyl Scratch stared at the door, then at the clock, then back at the door. “How many more minutes?”
“Not too long, dear.”
“Did they get lost?”
Another grandmotherly laugh from Gramma Phone. “They’re big ponies, I’m sure that they can find their way.”
Vinyl let out a groan of boredom, flopping onto the floor. “Then what’s taking them so long?!”
“It’s only been ten minutes.”
“But it feels like forever.” Vinyl rolled on the floor for a few moments, conveying her boredom through movement.
“Vinyl,” scolded Octavia from her seat, “don’t do that, that’s dirty!”
Vinyl grunted, but didn’t move.
“Vinyl,” warned Octavia.
The other filly raised her head, lifting the glasses that were still far too big for her face. Her red eyes stared straight into Octavia’s eyes. “Make me.”
Octavia gripped a pillow, thought better of it, and glanced at her Nana. Gramma Phone chuckled.
A pillow flew across the room, landing squarely in Vinyl’s face. She let out a shriek, the end of it gurgling into laughter. Vinyl turned towards Octavia, their grins mirrored. The filly’s magic sparked, the pillow lifting an inch off the ground before it fell back towards the floor. Another pillow smacked into Vinyl’s face.
By then, Vinyl was on her hooves, a pillow hanging from her mouth, glaring up at Octavia, but betrayed by her grin.
“You better run,” said Vinyl, the words surprisingly clear around the pillow.
Octavia let out a shriek, jumping off the couch and trying to get as much distance as possible between her and the other filly’s murderous pillow. For a good half hour, giggles, playful growls, the soft thump of a pillow making contact, and the occasional grandmotherly chuckle were the only sounds in the house.
“Stop!” shouted Vinyl between laughs. “Stop it!” Octavia stood above her, repeatedly dropping a pillow onto Vinyl, a spray of feathers firing upwards every time it made contact.
“Never!” said Octavia, bringing down the pillow once more.
Vinyl’s magic flared, briefly grabbing the pillow and tearing it to the side. It was a weak tug, but enough to knock Octavia onto her side and give Vinyl command over the pillow.
Octavia flung her hooves upwards, blocking the worst of the fluffy assault. The fillies laughed all the while, high-pitched giggles floating through the house.
“What’s going on over there?” called Vinyl Record from the next room.
“Nothing!” replied the fillies in perfect unison. They looked at each other, laughing once again. The pillow stopped moving.
“Tavi?” asked Vinyl, still standing over Octavia.
“Mmmm?”
“Can… can I kiss you?”
Octavia gave a little start, her eyes widening. She glanced at the door, then back at Vinyl. Then she nodded. “Okay.”
Vinyl grinned and leaned forward, aiming for Octavia’s cheek. Her glasses slipped off, hitting Octavia right in the forehead.
“Ouch,” said Octavia. She rubbed at her forehead.
“Ohmygosh! Tavi, are you okay?” Vinyl leaned in closer, looking for a bruise. “Did it hurt? Are you hurt? Please don’t be hurt!”
“I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?”
Octavia poked at her forehead. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Are you sure you’re sure?” Vinyl’s eyes were wide, shining with worry.
Octavia smiled and gave one, quick nod. “Mmmmhmm.”
Vinyl let out a sigh of relief, then paused. “Can—Can I still kiss you?”
The other filly blushed a bit deeper. She nodded. Vinyl leaned forward, her lips brushing against Octavia’s forehead in a single, soft kiss.
The fillies pulled away, both of them flushed and giggling.
“Well, that’s adorable,” said a voice from the doorway.
Octavia and Vinyl’s heads snapped up, their eyes locking onto the grinning colt, his two-toned red mane disheveled and out of place.
“LP!” Vinyl carefully stepped off of Octavia and ran towards her brother, leaping and pulling him into a hug. “You’re back!”
Long Play chuckled, tousling Vinyl’s mane. “Hey kid. Taking care of those glasses?”
“Yeah! I always have them on!” Vinyl touched a hoof to her face, expecting plastic, but feeling nothing but fur. A tinge of panic crept into her eyes as her head darted back and forth, looking for the tell-tale purple lenses.
“Vinyl,” said Long Play with the slightest bit of worry, “where are the glasses?”
Octavia trotted forward, the shades carefully balanced on the top of her head. “Here you go, Vinyl.”
Vinyl quickly scooped the glasses up, shoving them over her eyes. “I guess they slipped off,” she said, even as the shades slipped an inch down her muzzle.
Long Play’s muzzle scrunched slightly. “You’re lucky your fillyfriend was here to save you.”
Vinyl grinned sheepishly.
“F-Fillyfriend?” asked Octavia.
“Well, yeah!” said Vinyl in surprise. “How else are we gonna get married if you’re not my fillyfriend?”
Octavia blushed for the umpteenth time that day.
Long Play laughed. “You’re still on that, Vinyl?”
“Yeah!” Vinyl puffed out her chest, staring challengingly up at Long Play. “I’m still gonna marry Tavi!”
“I believe you.”
“Before you marry Harmonia!”
Harmonia poked her head into the room. “Who’s marrying me?”
“I am, apparently,” said Long Play.
“Are the fillies still talking about that?” asked Harmonia with a roll of her eyes.
“Well, aren’t you gonna get married?” asked Vinyl.
“With him? Hardly.”
Long Play ran a hoof through his mane. “You’d be lucky to get somepony like me.”
Harmonia laughed.
“Don’t laugh!” protested Long Play. “I’m being serious!”
“I’m sure.”
“You’re the one who went out of your way to pick me up.”
Harmonia’s muzzle scrunched slightly. “That was just common courtesy.”
“You waited out there for, like, an hour!”
“Only forty-five minutes.”
“You even counted!”
“Because you kept me waiting!”
Long Play and Harmonia bickered, going back and forth and back and forth.
“Tavi?” asked Vinyl in a whisper. “Are they in love?”
Octavia considered the two of them for a few moments. “Yes. Definitely.”
***
“So long story short,” said Long Play, jabbing a fork in Vinyl’s direction. “Don’t ever be a DJ. I don’t even want you near a nightclub until you’re thirty.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re thirty.”
Laughter rippled through the table. For a brief moment, the only sound was that of forks scraping against plates.
“Have you told them yet, Harmonia?” asked Gramma Phone.
Harmonia looked up, hurriedly swallowing a mouthful of salad. “Told them what?”
Gramma Phone cocked an eyebrow.
“Ah, yes.” Harmonia cleared her throat. “Well, uh, I’m going to be a teacher?” She glanced at her grandmother.
Gramma Phone nodded.
“A teacher?” asked Vinyl Record.
Harmonia nodded. “Well, a teacher’s assistant for now, as I’m finishing up my studies.Then I’m apply for a position at the Canterlot Conservatory.”
“That’s where I want to go!” said Octavia excitedly.
“A teacher?” asked Long Play. “Wouldn’t have expected it.”
Harmonia glanced at him. “I choose not to take offense at that.”
“Won’t that be a lot of work?” asked Vinyl Record.
“Quite a lot. I probably won’t even have a proper position in the Conservatory until Octavia gets there. Assuming that I’m actually hired in the first place.”
“Which she will be,” said Gramma Phone confidently.
“We don’t know that, Nana,” said Harmonia. “There’s still a lot of time until then.”
Gramma Phone waved a dismissive hoof. “Oh, ponyfeathers. They’d be a fool not to hire you and even more foolish not to accept Octavia when she’s old enough.”
Octavia turned towards her friend. “Vinyl, do you wanna go to the Conservatory too?”
“If Tavi’s gonna be there, then I’m gonna be there too.” A pause. “LP, what’s a Conservatory?”
“It’s a really big music school,” answered Long Play with a smile.
“Oh.” Vinyl’s face lit up, the purple shades sliding down her muzzle. “Yeah! That sounds cool! I wanna go to a music school!”
Vinyl Record clicked her tongue. “Isn’t that all the way out in Canterlot? That’s a bit far.”
"You didn't mind sending me off to Canterlot,” said Long Play.
“Double standards, dear.”
“Anyway,” cut in Harmonia, “there’s still quite a bit of time before any of us have to make that decision.”
Gramma Phone sipped at her drink, smiling a knowing smile. “Oh, you whippersnappers. That day’ll be here far sooner than you think.”
11 years later…
Octavia let out a sigh, stretching slightly to get the soreness of Moving Day out of her hooves. She’d thought that the upperclassponies’ complaints had been nothing short of ramblings, meant to scare incoming freshman.
This was not the case.
Moving Day had been every bit the worrying, cumbersome process that the older students had warned her about. It certainly didn’t help that Octavia had somehow managed to shove her entire room into her luggage. Or that the Conservatory had chosen to place her in the highest floor of the dorm. Or that the elevator was broken.
It was, all in all, not a very good first impression.
Octavia straightened, swiping a water bottle from the top of a desk and walking over to an open window. All of Canterlot seemed to stretch out before her: the tall buildings of campus, the specks of students running around, the very tops of the houses beyond campus, and far, far in the distance, Canterlot Castle itself.
Thismakes everything a bit better. Octavia sipped at her water, surveying Canterlot for a few more moments. I wonder where she is right now.
“Admiring the view?” asked a voice from the doorway.
Octavia turned, feeling the slightest sense of déjà vu. A purple colt with a blue mane and a permanently fixed cheeky grin stood just inside the room.
“Harpo,” said Octavia, “this is the girls’ dorm.”
Harpo Parish Nadermane went a few steps deeper into the room, flopping onto an unmade bed. “I’m quite aware of that, Octavia.”
“You’re not allowed in here.”
“Not officially, no. But it’s much more comfortable here.” Harpo sniffed the air a few times. “The boys’ dorm smells like… Well, honestly, I don’t know how to describe the smell.”
Octavia’s muzzle scrunched slightly. “Charming.”
“Not even a little.” Harpo leaned back, laying down fully on the bed. “Do you know your roommate yet?”
“Beauty Brass. Do you know her?”
Harpo shook his head. “I’d guess that she’s a beauty and that she plays some kind of brass instrument.”
“How intuitive,” deadpanned Octavia. “And who’s your roommate?”
“I don’t have one. I managed to get a single, since it makes things easier if I ever manage to get a coltfriend.”
Octavia nodded. “Sensible.” A pause. “I suppose.”
Silence fell within the dorm room. Octavia surveyed her luggage, hoping that Beauty Brass had more foresight than she did.
“Wanna walk around campus?” asked Harpo.
Octavia threw one last glance around the room, taking in the unpacked boxes, the sheer amount of clutter that would probably keep her roommate from taking more than a few steps inside.
“Let’s go,” she said.
The two stepped out of the room and began heading down the hallway.
“There’s a very nice café not too far from here,” said Harpo. “If you’re hungry, I mean.”
On the other end of the hallway, a set of hooves froze, then began making their way towards the pair.
“That sounds rather nice,” said Octavia. “Moving Day tired me out.”
The hooves picked up their pace, breaking into a full on run. The pair of students turned, seeing little more than a white and blue blur before it barreled into Octavia.
“TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVIIIIIIIII!” shouted Vinyl, now straddling the mare. “Tavi, it’s you! I found you! Hi Tavi!” She waved.
Octavia tried to catch her breath. “V-Vinyl?”
“Uh-huh!” Vinyl nodded.
“I… Y-you’re… Why are you here?”
“I go here!”
“But you’re younger than I am.”
“I skipped a few grades.” Vinyl grinned, quickly lowering her head and planting a peck of a kiss on Octavia’s cheek. “C’mon, don’t act like you’re not excited.”
Harpo cleared his throat. “A… friend of yours, Octavia?”
Vinyl looked up. “Marefriend.”
Harpo blinked a few times. “You… you have a marefriend?”
“No… Well, yes,” said Octavia, “but…” she sighed. “Harpo, this is Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl, this is Harpo Parish Nadermane.”
Harpo reached out a hoof.
“That’s a long name,” said Vinyl, wildly shaking the proffered hoof.
“Just Harpo’s fine.” The colt grit his teeth against the pain. “Octavia, you still haven’t explained yourself.”
Octavia rubbed a hoof between her eyes. “It’s a long story.”
A grey mare, her mane neatly bobbed, poked her head into the hallway. “Mister Nadermane, Miss Philharmonica, and Miss Scratch, I would very much appreciate if you did not make such a racket in the hallway.”
“Harmonia!” said Vinyl excitedly. “You’re here too?”
Harmonia smiled slightly, though she tried to cover. “Miss Scratch, I will ask you to refer to me as Professor Philharmonica while on campus.”
Vinyl ignored her, turning towards Octavia. “Tavi, it’s just like old times! Isn’t this gonna be fun!”
