Alone, Octavia walked through a crowd of ponies filling the streets of Manehattan. She was in the wealthiest, most charmingly decorated district, passing by designer clothing shops and jewelry stores, but the buildings seemed to loom ominously overhead in their sheer height. Being out by herself again felt stranger than she’d imagined it would. The side streets looked like alleyways, and all were crowded with strangers. Octavia checked her watch as she neared the restaurant. Late. Damn.

A familiar mare sat alone at a table in the patio area, her nose deep in a menu, a hoof tapping rhythmically against the pavement. Octavia walked to the table where the mare sat.

“Hello, Mother.”

“About time you made it here. I went to the trouble of reserving a table, which they did not have prepared on time. How is it that I was still able to spend ten minutes memorizing the menu before my daughter shows up?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t come to this area often.” Octavia sat down across from her mother and grabbed a menu, looking at the array of expensive food items.

“Well, it’s been some years since your father and I last saw you. Have you been reading my letters? You haven’t been writing back recently.” Majesty finally looked up from her menu.

“I’ve been busy. That’s all.” Octavia quickly placed her menu down, focusing her attention on the ponies and traffic passing by rather than her mother.

“Did you know that you always look to the left when you’re being evasive? At any rate, I know all about what’s been keeping you busy: playing temporary positions for any group in Manehattan. Your father and I were hoping the money we put into that college education of yours would go into something worthwhile.”

“Well, not everyone can attain their dreams so easily.” Octavia placed her hoof over her chin, still looking away from her mother.

A waitress then walked over to the table. “Hello! Welcome—” she began, but was cut off by Majesty.

“I’ve been waiting nearly fifteen minutes. Is today particularly busy or does it simply take you that long to notice customers?”

“I’m sorry, but, well, a raised menu usually means you’re still deciding and I didn’t want to be a bother—”

“I don’t want to hear any excuses.”

“Of course, madam. Um, well, we have a special—“

“I’ll start with the mushroom appetizer, then I will have the chef’s deluxe hay salad with wine.”

“Okay.” The waitress looked at Octavia as Octavia focused her attention on her. “For you, ma’am?”

“I’ll just have a hayburger, side salad, and a glass of water.”

The waitress nodded and quickly walked away.

“A hayburger? We have a table at one of the best restaurants in Manehattan and you order junk food?”

“I’ve acquired a taste for them lately,” Octavia said dismissively. Mostly because of Vinyl, she nearly added, but caught herself. Over thirty-three years of dealing with her mother, Octavia had learned that she would need to build up to anything important.

Her mother gave a hmph and decided to find something else to talk about.

“Well, you can’t have asked me to see you so suddenly without a good reason, and I’m certain it wasn’t to discuss your performances. Has anything else happened in your life recently?”

“Just one thing. It’s serious, and I wanted to talk to you about it.”

“Well, what is it?”

“I have been dating this mare for the past two years. I may have mentioned her in my letters.”

“Is it that DJ you mentioned once? I told you she seemed like trouble.”

“Mother, please.” Octavia groaned, resting her elbows on the table and rubbing her temples. “I didn’t come here to have my whole life criticized; I came because this is important.”

“Sorry, Octavia. It’s simply a mother’s instinct. You know I’m only looking out for what’s best for you.” Majesty nodded. “Go on. What about your… DJ?”

“I really wish that you could meet her, mother. She’s absolutely wonderful. In fact…” Octavia took a deep breath. “So much so that, recently, I proposed to her. She said yes! When she gets back from her tour, we’re getting married!”

Octavia couldn’t keep from grinning, though she was alone in doing so. Majesty sat there, just staring, as though she were confused.

“You could have called. It would have saved you the trouble of setting all this up. You already know our feelings about that.”

“I know that I can’t expect you to be excited about me marrying a mare, but this is really important to me, mother. I’m not asking you to come to something trivial. Fate willing, this is the only chance you’ll have to see your daughter get married. Don’t tell me you haven’t dreamed about it before.”

Majesty, who had been grinding her teeth, finally snapped. “Of course I have! But it seems that my little princess won’t be marrying Prince Charming after all. She’d rather throw herself at some nightclub floozie! So sorry if I’m less than pleased by this news.”

“... I just want you and dad to be there.” Octavia said quietly.

“I’ve said all I have to say on the subject, Octavia. If this is what you want to do with your life, you’ll have to do it on your own.”

Majesty looked at Octavia sadly, then got up from her chair. “I suppose we’ll have to have lunch together at another time. I don’t wish to become… unpleasant.” With that, she turned and left.

“All right…” Octavia said to no one in particular, numbness overtaking her as she watched her mother disappear into the crowd. She wanted to run after her, to beg and plead for her to reconsider, but she knew nothing would come of it.

It was afternoon in Ponyville. Octavia and Vinyl were at home, sitting in the living room.

“I’m happy we got Derpy and Dinky moved into their own place yesterday. They’re great, but this house was getting a bit too tight with all four of us,” Vinyl said.

“It was nice to have company, though,” Octavia replied.

“Speaking of company, what’s up with this Fancy Pants guy? He hears you play a performance or two and all the sudden you’re best buddies and he wants to come visit?”

“He’s… a bit odd, I’ll admit, but he’s been very kind. Besides, he’s coming here to discuss a job.”

“Well, I would still be on the fence. You know how these music business types are.”

“What, like Derpy?” Octavia asked, feigning innocence.

Vinyl opened his mouth, but couldn’t find anything to say. The doorbell rang.

“Just give him a chance, hon,” Octavia said over her shoulder as she went to answer the door. “At worst, I don’t like his deal, and we’re back where we were a few days ago.”

Taking a deep breath, she opened it to see Fancy Pants. He wore his regular suit jacket and light-purple bowtie, a thick manila envelope tucked in one of his forelegs.

“Octavia! Thank you for allowing me to visit on such short notice.”

“It’s nothing. My fiancé and I have kept fairly free schedules ever since the move. We were just talking about your visit, actually.”

“Oh, is he here?” Fancy Pants asked.

Vinyl got up from the sofa and approached the two of them, extending his hoof to Fancy Pants. Fancy took his hoof and shook it.

“Vinyl Scratch.”

“Fancy Pants, your fiancée has said a lot about you.” Fancy Pants let his hoof go and looked at Vinyl. “Not to be rude, but have I seen you before?”

“Probably,” Vinyl said with a shrug. “I might have looked a bit different, but DJ-PON3 was pretty recognizable. Oh, can I get you something while you talk things out with Octavia?”

“No, but thank you. I just got off the train and came here straight away.”

“Well, let’s have a seat,” Octavia said, motioning them into the living room and gesturing at the couch.

Fancy bowed slightly. “Of course.”

All three of them sat in the living room, Octavia and Vinyl sitting next to each other with Fancy across from them.

“So, you are probably wondering why I wanted to see you, Octavia.”

She nodded. “Something about work, I would assume. Other than that, I’ve no idea.”

“As you two know, I am the owner of the Canterlot Royal Symphony—or, rather, the Symphony Hall. While I do appreciate the symphony and its talent, I always felt there is something missing. There are plenty of famous players, to be sure, but are they the best players? I’m not so sure they are. Therefore, I am starting a group of my own. One Equestria has never experienced.”

“How so?” Octavia raised an eyebrow.

“My plan is recruiting raw talent wherever I happen to find it, to discover and mold the best musicians across Equestria and perform all across the globe. And I’d love nothing more than for you to be a part of it, Octavia.”

Vinyl snorted, tapping his hoof impatiently. Something wasn’t quite right about what Fancy Pants was saying, but what? Everything sounded true enough on its own, but as a whole… it was too good to be true. There had to be a catch.

“Me? Of all the other cellists out there?”

“To be sure, there are a lot of ponies like you, Octavia. They go to a Conservatory. However, unless they make it to the top of their class, they tend not to find any positions in a music group. I want to grab those that truly play music for themselves and have a way to express it. You are one of them.”

“Okay, okay. So what does she need to do?” Vinyl asked.

Fancy Pants took a moment to reply after being interrupted, but simply smiled at Vinyl, saying, “Right now, I am looking for members to sign on. Once we have enough musicians, we plan on practicing in Canterlot. No moving necessary. I will have enough funds for transport and hotel.”

Fancy Pants set the envelope on the coffee table, pulling out a thick stack of papers and setting them in front of Octavia.

“Take your time reading over the details and decide whether you want to sign on. Just send them back to the enclosed address.”

“Thank you. I wasn’t expecting such an opportunity.”

“It’s my pleasure.” Fancy Pants took a look at his watch. “Excuse me, but I need to go.”

After seeing Fancy Pants, Vinyl and Octavia heard another knock at the door. Vinyl got up and opened the door. Derpy and Dinky waved. He took a step back and let them in.

“So? How did it go?” Derpy asked.

“He is offering Octavia a full-time position as a cellist in some grand orchestra made of musicians across Equestria,” Vinyl said.

“Wow, that’s quite something!”

“I still need to read over the contract, but I think I will sign on.” Octavia said.

“Can I see it?” Derpy asked.

Octavia nodded, handing over the contract to Derpy. Derpy pulled out a pair of reading glasses and began looking it over.

“You use glasses now?” Vinyl asked.

“I found it helps when reading.” Derpy quickly read over the details of the contract. She took a few minutes before handing it back to Octavia.

“Anything fishy?” Vinyl asked.

“The language is much simpler than the contracts I negotiated at Manehattan Records for you. Clearer, more direct. I still advise reading it over for yourselves, but I see no danger in signing it.”

“Thanks,” Octavia said, placing the envelope back on the table.

“Mommy and I finished moving in this morning!” Dinky chimed in.

“Good to hear. Before you two got here, Octavia and I were planning for our wedding,” Vinyl said.

“You two are still not married? It’s been half a year,” Derpy said.

“We still need a wedding planner, and I had you in mind,” Vinyl said.

“I should have known...” Derpy shook her head, then brushed her hair out of her face and pulled out a notepad and pen.

“We need a venue, somewhere outside that is nice. We also need chairs, tables, dishware, flowers, the usual wedding stuff,” Vinyl said.

“Got you covered. If they are still around, I know some old friends that can easily hook us up with something in a short amount of time. What are you two doing?” Derpy asked.

“I thought we go to Rarity’s first to get measured and order a dress and tux. Then we are going to Sugarcube Corner for the cake and catering,” Vinyl said.

“All right, might as well get started now. Let’s go, dear,” Derpy said, looking down at Dinky. With that, the two left the home.

Vinyl and Octavia walked down Ponyville’s business district, passing by a few shops on their way to Sugarcube Corner.

“What did you think of Fancy Pants?” Octavia asked.

“He certainly seems…” Vinyl smirked. “Fancy.”

“Oh, ha ha. Seriously, though, you haven’t said a word since we left. What’s on your mind?” Octavia asked, leaning a bit on Vinyl.

“Eh, it’s not a big deal. He seems nice and all.”

“But?”

“They all seemed nice at first.”

Octavia stopped, putting her foreleg around Vinyl’s waist. “I think he may be better than that at the very least.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Arriving at Sugarcube Corner, Vinyl and Octavia walked inside and saw Pinkie at the register waving at them.

“Hi again!” Pinkie yelled. “The usual? Two coffees and two bagels?”

“Actually, I think we are ready to finalize the catering and cake and get a date set.” Vinyl smiled.

“Oh, how exciting!” Pinkie clapped her hooves together. “Let me grab our catalogue. Actually...” Pinkie took a deep breath and squealed, then coughed and calmed back down. “Okay, I’m getting it now.”

Walking over to a shelf behind the register, she scanned a bookshelf, then withdrew a hardback book and handed it to Vinyl and Octavia. Octavia grabbed the book and opened it to find colorful pictures and detailed descriptions for individual packages.

“When is the wedding, and how many will be attending?” Pinkie asked.

“A month from now, and it isn’t going to have a huge attendance. I figure no more than…” Vinyl looked up at the ceiling, counting in his head. “Twenty, including Octavia and I.”

“Only eighteen? Why so few?”

“We just prefer a small wedding,” Vinyl said.

“Aww! Well, since you won’t have that many ponies there, I think our Small Premium Package should do the trick!”

“What page is that?” Octavia asked.

“Page seven.”

Octavia turned the book back a few pages and read the description.

“What does it have?” Vinyl asked.

“A bit of everything. Fruit and vegetable trays, baked goods, sweets, wine, and a medium-sized cake.” Octavia passed the book to Vinyl. He skipped the fancy pictures and detailed descriptions, looking for the price.

“1200 bits? Quite a lot for food.”

Pinkie chimed in, “Yeah, it is, but it includes all the items, preparation, delivery, setup, and a custom wedding cake. Wedding cakes on average go for around five hundred bits by themselves, so this is actually a super-duper bargain!”

Vinyl rubbed his chin. “What do you think, Tavi?”

“We’ll take it,” she said with a smile, fishing through her purse for her wallet.

Vinyl’s face fell. “Wha? But—”

“I want this to be our best day ever, Vinyl. We should invest in it,” Octavia said, cutting off Vinyl.

After a moment, Vinyl scoffed. “Oh, fine. The dress and tuxedo we requested a month ago from Rarity is already going to blow our wedding budget anyways.”

“We’ll worry about the long-term expenses after we get married.” Octavia smiled.

Vinyl didn’t want to blow a good chunk of his savings on the wedding, but seeing Octavia smile, he couldn’t be angry, and smiled back. He then pressed his lips to hers, a hoof caressing her cheek as he felt her kissing him back. He paused when he felt her tongue slip across his lips, quickly looking at Pinkie, who just waved, then shrugged and let it in.

“Oooh, you two already look like a married couple!” Pinkie smiled.

After their trip to Sugarcube Corner, Vinyl and Octavia headed straight to Carousel Boutique. Walking inside, they found a stallion seated at the register reading a copy of Rogue magazine. He had a well-groomed yellow coat and mane and wore earrings in both of his ears, showing a small bit of his feminine side.

“Howdy. Good to see y’all again!” he said, looking up from his magazine.

“Hey, Braeburn. Is Rarity busy?” Vinyl asked.

“Eh, right now, she’s working on somethin’ for some celebrity—”

“Aw cool. Who?” Vinyl asked with a nod.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Braeburn said, leaning in with a wink. “But seriously, it’s this whole client confidentiality thing. I ain’t supposed to talk about it, but I can help y’all out. Is this about the weddin’ order?”

“Yeah. We’ve actually set a date for next month and we just wanted to let you know so everything stays on track.”

“Ah. Well, that shouldn’t be a problem. We already finished the dress you requested a week back and the tux just came in from Canterlot. If y’all want, you can try them on and see if they fit.”

“Eh, that’s okay. I’m good,” Vinyl said, shrugging.

Braeburn laughed. “Actually, I was just bein’ polite. You have to have them test-fitted so they don’t look like shit when you put them on to get married, and Rarity would kill me if I missed an opportunity to get it done like this one. So, yeah. Basically, y’all ain’t leavin’ until we get this done.”

“I hate trying on clothes…” Vinyl grumbled. “And I’m pretty sure that’s not legal, but fine.”

“Alrighty, this way, please,” Braeburn said cheerfully, prancing to a platform at one end of the room and going through a rack of dresses.

“Okay, Miss Melody, stand on the platform over there while I get your dress.”

Octavia stepped onto the platform and stood in the center. Braeburn dug through the clothing rack, retrieving a light-purple dress and taking it out of the protective plastic before handing it to Octavia.

“What do you think? Rarity spent at least a week on it.”

“It’s beautiful.” Her eyes glowed as Braeburn passed it to her. Holding it up, she took in the color, which had a bit of a shine, while the fabric felt smooth, clean, and comfortable.

“It’s going to look even better on you.” Vinyl smiled, sitting on a chair next to the platform.

Braeburn nodded. “Well, try it on, and I will make sure everything measures correctly.”

Octavia then began putting the dress on. She did not have a hard time getting it on, but had a hard time zipping up the back.

“Let me help you with that,” Braeburn said, zipping up the back. “How does it feel?”

Octavia turned around and looked at herself in a nearby mirror. She spun around a few times, wanting to see herself from each angle. Unlike conventional wedding dresses, this one remained short, ending halfway at her rear legs. “It feels perfect.”

“Trust me, you look better than it feels,” Vinyl said, smiling.

“Good to hear, dear!” Braeburn looked over at Vinyl. “Let’s try your tuxedo, Vinyl.”

Braeburn walked over to a back room and came back out with a white box, opening it to reveal a custom black tuxedo. Passing the opened box to Vinyl, Vinyl withdrew the undershirt and put that on first, then the jacket to his tuxedo. Braeburn did a few adjustments with the sleeves and back.

“How does it feel?” Braeburn asked.

“It feels...” Vinyl paused, thinking of his feelings when putting on the jacket. When he used to put on dresses, he never felt like himself. With his tuxedo, all that came to mind was, “Right. It feels right.”

“You look great, Vinyl,” Octavia said, still standing on the platform in her dress.

“I take it both of y’all like them?”

“I think so.”

Returning home, Octavia remained downstairs while Vinyl walked upstairs and placed the clothing garments in the closet. Walking back downstairs, he saw Octavia at the kitchen table, preparing personal invitations to the wedding.

Walking over to the kitchen table, Vinyl saw the small list of who was invited.

“So, you’re not inviting your family?” he asked, cocking his head to one side.

“Of course not.” Octavia huffed, her expression wilting. She dropped the invitation she was examining and turned to face Vinyl. “My mother doesn’t accept me at all, and I don’t even know what my father thinks about all this because he hasn’t had an opinion of his own in twenty years. So no, I’m not terribly keen on inviting them.”

“Okay, okay. All I did was ask a question.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just… that particular question has been weighing heavily on me today. It’s an extremely important day for me and by all rights they should care. Whether or not they like it, they should at least care! But they… don’t, and I just can’t understand it.”

“I think you should invite them, then.”

“Why?”

“Because they rejected you.” Vinyl wrapped his foreleg around her shoulder, leaning in and kissing her temple. “And that’s the dumbest thing they could ever do to a daughter as wonderful as you,” he half-whispered into her ear. “We still have to give them chances to do right. You only get one mom and dad, after all.”

“My mother has made her position on the matter… very clear.” Octavia paused, thinking back to that day at the cafe. “My father, however… I think he still loves me, somewhere deep down. He did pay for my college to help me get to my dreams, not that mother ever let me forget it.”

“And with that offer from Fancy Pants, wouldn’t you want to tell him that your dreams really are coming true? Maybe just write a letter to him and invite them to the wedding.”

“Yes, I suppose. I’d like to think that it would make him happy, but I don’t know anymore. I never see nor hear from him anyway. What good would it do?”

“What harm would it do?”

Octavia chewed her lower lip in thought. “Fair point. All right.”

Octavia grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and began writing.

Dear Father,

I haven’t written to you in a while. I wanted to talk to you a few months ago, but Mother kept insisting you were busy with the company and I could only meet with her. It seems that even after college, she has not changed much.

I am sure she has already told you, but I recently proposed to my girlfriend. Or, rather, he used to be my girlfriend. My fiancé, Vinyl, is a stallion, and though I’m sure Mother will say a stallion who used to be a mare doesn’t count, I’m fully aware of the irony of our perfectly heterosexual wedding. I think that you would really like him if you met him, Father. At times, he can be quite silly, but it’s part of what makes him charming. He can be serious as well, like you.

I already know how Mother feels about me, but I was hoping you would want to attend my wedding. I know you still care about me and want to see me happy. This day will be the best in my life, and I wish for you to see it.

I hope we can see each other soon, and you can meet my future husband.

Your daughter, Octavia.