Octavia staggered down the walkways of the third tier, struggling under the twin weights of her instrument and the barely-conscious DJ. Most of the lights – the ones that hadn’t burned out already, at least – flickered incessantly, casting strange shadows on the walls around her. The few ponies that she saw laying in alleys or staring out over the railing turned to watch her pass with uncomfortably predatory eyes.

The stories that she heard about the bottom of the city were probably exaggerated, but the gap between “probably” and “definitely” remained quite significant. Still, it did not look like ponies were laying dead in the alleys, nor had a single pony tried to rob her or push her over the railing. Yet.

She bit back a startled yelp as the walkway shifted and groaned underhoof. Did maintenance teams ever come down this far? Based on the heaps of trash and the slick, stained metal beneath her hooves, it looked like the waste crews didn’t.

Great, Octavia thought. I can add that to the list of things that might go wrong tonight. Commander Lulamoon might catch up with us, somepony might mug us, the walkway might collapse…

"What sort of feeble-minded fool picks a fight with the Council Guard?” Octavia grumbled, glancing back at Vinyl. “Most ponies would have just turned me over to Commander Lulamoon. But no. You. You didn’t just lie to her: you actually attacked her! You’re lucky she didn’t kill you!"

"Ya know, you're kinda cute when you're mad,” Vinyl mumbled, smiling vacantly as she poked Octavia’s snout.

Octavia’s cheeks flared red as she struggled with a response, eventually settling on, "You are an idiot." She sighed. "I swear to Celestia, if you are not okay after this, I will throttle you. Do you understand? I am not kidding." After a moment of silence she added, “How are you feeling, Vinyl?”

“S’okay, I guess. Riding you is fun, but I bet you’re getting tired.”

Octavia’s cheeks reddened further. “I am getting tired of carrying you, yes.”

“Want me to walk?” Vinyl offered, swinging her legs wildly.

And here Octavia had thought the pain in her back and legs couldn’t get worse. “Stop that!” she growled through clenched teeth. “We should be there soon, so just stay there and do not move.”

“‘Kay,” Vinyl said, going limp once more.

Arriving at unit one, Octavia decided to take the fact that the door was the only one in the hall neither covered in graffiti nor caved in as a positive sign. Ponies down here probably respected a doctor willing to work with them quite a bit. Even the discount clinics charged a hoof and a leg if you tried to get help. She knocked, her legs shaking as she endeavored to support Vinyl and herself on three legs.

No answer came. Of-bucking-course things could not ever be easy for her.

She pounded on the door harder, the plastic shell starting to buckle under the weight of each blow. "Please! I was told a doctor lived here! We need help!"

“I’ll be there in a second,” came a muffled reply. The door opened, revealing a stallion in the process of trying to stifle a yawn. "I'm the doctor," he managed, before frowning and shaking his head. Rubbing his eyes, he continued, "A doctor, I mean. How can I help?”

“Thank Celestia,” Octavia gasped, shifting so he could get a look at Vinyl. “She… she was in a fight with another unicorn. She hit her head quite hard after being thrown around by some sort of magic.” That seemed close enough to the truth.

The stallion studied the pair intently for a moment, then stepped aside. “That does sound very serious. Come in. I’ll take a look at her.”

~~~~~

"Tea?"

Octavia opened her eyes, surprised to see a mug filled to the brim with steaming liquid in front of her. Much like her, the mug sank into the depths of the room’s hideous and shaggy, but surprisingly comfortable, carpet.

The doctor pushed it a little closer to her before he sat on the floor across from her.

The liquid looked more like dirty water than tea, but she accepted it all the same. Besides, the smell reminded her of Earl Grey. "Thank you. This is too much, though. You are already—"

"Don't worry about it. What's mine is yours." He glanced around the barren room and offered a tired smile, continuing, "Not that I have very much to offer. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes. I am just very, very tired." Every muscle twinged as she sat up, but that was no excuse to abandon her manners. "Is Vinyl okay?"

"More or less, I’d say. She probably does have a concussion, but I don’t think it’s too severe. Aside from that, a few scrapes and bruises. I’d like to keep an eye on her for a little while, but I don't think there’s anything to worry about."

"That is good," she said, sighing. "Thank you, Doctor...?"

"Hooves. Now then, while I do have a few questions I would like to ask you, it is my professional opinion that you need to rest. It isn't much, but I laid out some blankets on the floor near your friend's bed. Go use them. I have some errands to run tomorrow, so feel free to make yourself at home as long as you like."

"I shouldn't, really. You have already done—"

"I insist. Trust me, I’m a doctor.” He nudged her gently, prompting her to stand. “Come on, I'll lend you a hoof if you need it."

She shook her head, restraining a yawn. "It’s fine. I can make it on my own.” As she padded across the floor, she glanced back at Hooves and added, “Thank you. For everything."

~~~~~

Octavia awoke on a cloud.

Her hooves sank gently into the springy substance, but it still supported her just like she was a pegasus. A quick look around told her she was no longer in Manehattan.

There were no more buildings and walkways caging her in, no more dome obscuring the stars, no more gritty, metallic tang to the air… Just the cool breeze, the scent of rain, the pillowy softness beneath her, and an endless azure expanse as far as her eyes could see.

She could hardly ask for more.

"That. Was. So. Awesome!"

Octavia started at the unexpected outburst, the cloud rippling beneath her, as she spun in place. A pegasus stood directly behind her, grinning broadly. If it hadn’t been for her rainbow mane, she might have blended perfectly into the blue that surrounded them.

"That part where you actually kicked Trixie’s flank? Amazing! Oh, and that jump onto the lift! Only I could have done it better."

"Who are you?" Octavia asked.

"The name’s Rainbow Dash.” She glanced down at the cloud they were standing on, then frowned. “Horse feathers! I really wanted a chance to talk with you, Octy! You're a lot cooler than I was expecting."

"I am cooler than—?” Octavia stopped short, shaking her head. “No. Wait. That is not what’s important right now. How do you know who I am? Where am I?"

“None of that’s important right now either!" The pegasus hopped into the air, hovering right above the cloud. "Look, just don't lose the Element, okay? We'll talk again, I promise!"

Octavia opened her mouth to ask what in Tartarus the pegasus meant, but the cloud beneath her dissipated, dropping Octavia into the unending blue.

She jerked awake, barely containing a panicked shout. Despite the plush carpet and blankets promising that an eternity of falling into empty air could still be avoided, it still took a few moments for her heartbeat to slow to healthy speeds.

A clock mounted high up on the wall, informed her that morning had long since passed. It was hard for her to recall the last time she had slept this late.

She cringed as she stood up, her muscles exacting revenge for the suffering she put them through last night. No doubt she would spend the next few days aching. Then she'd probably spend the rest of her life paying for kicking Commander Lulamoon. On the bright side, she had heard that ponies working in the Everfree Asteroid Colonies got regular meals.

A soft murmur drew her attention to the bed. Vinyl was still asleep, her legs wrapped tightly around a pillow. Somehow, her already messy mane had found a way to look even more disheveled. Another barely audible sound issued from the DJ as she curled tighter around the pillow, nuzzling it.

Octavia smirked. So much for Vinyl’s rough and tumble party pony image: the unicorn looked positively angelic while sleeping. Heat began to creep into Octavia’s cheeks as she realized she was staring. She turned away. Had the doctor come in or, Celestia forbid, Vinyl woken up, she would never have been able to live it down.

A sigh escaped from her as she sat back down. She was just putting off trying to think about her situation.

Why had the Council Guard wanted to arrest her? The stone jumped to mind, but that was ridiculous. The Council Guard consisted of the Empire’s most elite soldiers. Them hunting her down to retrieve some stupid, ornamental rock made no sense at all.

Unfortunately, no other explanation came to mind. With most of her time being spent on the walkways – and the remaining time usually used for sleep – she simply lacked the chance to get in trouble. Aside from her meeting with Vinyl, the stone marked the only unusual thing that had happened in weeks. Remnants of the dream floated back to her. The stone being some sort of magical item would explain a lot...

She sighed. Once again she was trying to put off thinking about the real problem. The most important thing she could do right now was figure out how to deal with the Council Guard.

It didn’t matter how hard she thought though: an answer that didn’t involve ending up in the Colonies continued to elude her. The instant the Council Guard had gotten involved, she had become completely and utterly bucked. Turning the stone over might have gotten her off the hook if they were feeling particularly generous. Bad luck for her that assaulting Commander Lulamoon had destroyed even that slim chance. That alone constituted enough to have her banished to the Colonies for life.

Basically her life had come to an end.

Octavia froze, finally realizing that she had started pacing the little room at some point. Getting worked up helped nopony, least of all herself. She needed to relax.

After spending a few moments assuring herself that her cello had survived their flight undamaged, she picked it up and moved it the unit’s main room. With the doctor out for the time being and Vinyl still sleeping off her injuries, it felt like the perfect time to calm her nerves by playing.

It took more time than she expected to move to the unit’s main room – lifting the case, let alone quietly, was barely manageable – and get herself properly positioned. Standing only exacerbated the aching of her muscles, but she pushed through and started to play.

~~~~~

Vinyl groaned as she tried to wake up. She felt awful. Her head throbbed, her ears rang, her mouth tasted sour, even her horn ached... All of this added up to it being way, way too early to wake up. Still. Something seemed off. Her bed, to start. Her sheets weren’t this coarse. Music playing somewhere in the unit sounded right, but classical? She didn’t even know the network addresses for any classical stations.

She tried opening her eyes and instantly regretted it. Light shouldn’t hurt that badly.

“What the hay did I do last night?” she mumbled, reaching for her shades on the endtable. Unfortunately, both the shades and table were gone. Vinyl decided that this probably wasn’t her room. Had she gone home with somepony last night?

She wracked her brain, trying to remember what’d happened last night. Her set had been awesome, she’d met up with that mare – Octavia? Yeah, that sounds right. – who’d threatened to kill her, they’d talked, drank – Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad… – Trixie had shown up and… Oh.

That explained her head, at least. Vinyl decided that staying in bed until either the pain stopped or somepony kicked her out would be best. Which left her with the question of what to do. Laying in bed with her eyes closed wasn’t very entertaining, but every other option hurt like Tartarus and would probably end up with her being sick all over some other pony’s stuff.

A sudden shift in the music’s tempo caught her attention. She might not have liked classical much, but she definitely ranked listening to it above doing absolutely nothing at all.

Vinyl had always felt that music should say something besides “Look at how long I’ve been practicing this same, stupid, old song that ancient ponies wrote!” Vinyl could make ponies dance, make them happy, make them fall in love… What could a concert pony do? Impress a bunch of snobs with their perfect pitch and excellent timing?

This was different though. This was raw emotion in musical form. Whoever was playing this didn’t care about bull like perfect form or whatever else Vinyl had ignored back in class; this pony wanted the whole universe to know how angry and upset they were.

Vinyl continued to listen, losing herself in every furious crescendo and sad refrain. Whatever pony wrote this needed a stiff drink and a hug. Maybe a few of each.

After several minutes of awestruck listening, it finally occurred to her that this couldn’t be coming from a console. The acoustics weren’t right for speakers, and the sound quality was way too good anyway. This was somepony playing live. Right here in this unit.

It took a few false starts, some cursing, and no small amount of pain, but she managed to get out of bed. Whoever this pony was, Vinyl wanted to meet them. A quick peek would be enough, then she could stumble back to bed and lay down until the world stopped hurting. She glanced around the edge of the doorway.

Octavia stood in the center of the room, with her… viola? Double bass? Cello? One of those big stringed instruments. It didn’t actually matter. Nothing but the mare and her music mattered. Vinyl just sat and stared, unable to pull herself away, all thoughts of returning to the bed abandoned, her discomfort forgotten.

As Octavia lowered her bow and brought the piece to a close, finally breaking the spell that had held the DJ, Vinyl blurted out the first thing that came to mind: "That was bucking great."

~~~~~

Octavia almost dropped her cello as she whirled. Vinyl was sitting right in the middle of the doorway, wearing that ridiculous, lopsided grin of hers. Blood rushed to Octavia’s cheeks. Had that blasted unicorn been there the whole time? This is what she got for playing something private and shamefully melodramatic with somepony sleeping just a room away.

Vinyl took a few unsteady steps forward as she continued, "Why didn’t you tell me you were so good with that thing?"

“I’m not that good,” Octavia mumbled. She set her instrument against the wall and dropped back to all fours, deciding that a change of subject was best. "You should be in bed, Vinyl. Doctor Hooves thinks you have a concussion."

Vinyl's grin transformed into a smirk. "Oh ho! Is somepony worried about me?"

"After the effort I went through to get you to a doctor? Yes. I would be quite put out if you were to die now."

"Am I blushing? I think I’m blushing."

"I am serious. Get back to bed!" Octavia started to push her, but quickly realized Vinyl was barely managing to stand on her own. "You are lucky that a concussion is the worst you got. What possessed you to pick a fight with Commander Lulamoon?"

For her part, Vinyl at least chose not to put up a fight. "Pffft. Me and that bully go way back. Besides, I’d had enough of her bull and she had a flank kicking coming. You don’t come into my club and start insulting my guests."

Octavia simply stared at the unicorn. There was no way Vinyl could be serious, but it certainly seemed like she was. "You do realize you are now in as much trouble as I am, right?"

"Nah. I'll be fine." Octavia caught Vinyl as she nearly fell trying to get back into the bed. The unicorn reddened a little as Octavia helped her up, adding, "Eventually. Anyway, I figure I should ask at some point. What'd a fancy filly like you do to piss off the Council Guard?"

"I… am not one hundred percent sure. I think it might be—" Octavia trailed off, finally noticing the intensity of the unicorn’s stare. The glasses had concealed them before, but Vinyl had amazing eyes: a vivid shade that hovered somewhere between crimson and cerise. Open, too. Octavia often heard that a pony’s eyes served as the window to their soul, but this might be the first time she actually believed it.

Vinyl must have realized she was staring, because she suddenly broke eye contact, instead finding a spot on the wall to look at. "Right! That reminds me! Have you seen my shades?"

"Not since we were at your club. They probably fell off when Commander Lulamoon’s magic hurled you through the air."

"Damn," Vinyl grumbled.

"Do you really care that much about your glasses?” Octavia asked, rolling her eyes. “I would think your head would be the larger concern."

The unicorn fidgeted. "I just don't like not having my shades. Ponies always get weird about my eyes. I don't like 'em."

"That’s a shame. You have very pretty eyes."

To Octavia’s surprise, Vinyl blushed. Then she pointed an accusatory hoof at Octavia and said, “Oh! I am onto your game, little miss fancy filly! Trying to seduce me so I’ll forget all about my question! Flattery won’t get you nowhere with me. Spill it! Why’re Trixie and her goons onto you?”

Octavia decided to let both the DJ’s fantasies and butchering of proper Equestrian grammar go. “I was trying to tell you that I found a little rock on the walkways yesterday. I think a courier pegasus dropped it. The problem is that—”

“They wouldn’t have Trixie hunting for some stupid rock,” Vinyl finished for her. The unicorn narrowed her eyes, staring at Octavia. “You sure that’s all? You’re not a changeling infiltrator or something?”

“Why would a changeling infiltrator bother spending the night at a—” Octavia stopped herself. “You are going to respond with something like ‘Because not even a changeling infiltrator could resist my charm!’, aren’t you?”

“It’s no fun if you do it. I was kidding anyway.” Vinyl flashed her a grin. “I believe you.”

“You do?”

“I consider myself a pretty good judge of character, and I’ve got a good feeling about you. Anyway, it prolly wouldn’t be the first time a councilor sicced ‘em on somepony for something stupid.”

"She's right, you know,” Doctor Hooves said, startling the both of them. “There are a number of councilors who use them as their personal errand ponies. I’ve heard of them doing everything from hunting down dangerous criminals to picking up take-out."

Despite the doctor’s warm smile, Octavia’s ears flattened. “Welcome back, Doctor Hooves. Sorry, we didn’t hear you come in.”

“I noticed.” He shrugged his saddlebags off as he continued, “Had I known I was harboring a fugitive, I probably would have waited until after you woke up to run my errands.”

She cursed her inattention for the second time that day. Having to run again so quickly would not be pleasant. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but—”

“I’m kidding. Don’t worry about it.” He put his saddlebags on the table and began rummaging through them, extracting a few packets. “You wouldn’t be the first ponies I’ve helped who were on the run, and I doubt you’ll be the last. Your secret is safe with me. All I ask is that you ask me before stealing anything. It makes it easier to keep track of what I still have and what I need to scrounge up again.”

Octavia stared at him, her mouth hanging open.

“Thanks,” Vinyl supplied, nudging Octavia. “And thanks for taking care of us. I seriously appreciate it.”

“I didn’t do much. You should save your thanks for your friend,” Hooves said, mixing something into a cup of water. Once he finished, he brought it over to the bed and offered it to Vinyl. “Drink this and do your best not to spit it out, please.”

Vinyl grimaced as she sniffed the cup, but drank it dutifully. She even kept her gagging to a minimum. “This is possibly the worst tasting thing I have ever drank. And that includes FlimFlam Super Cider.”

“It’ll help with the pain. Now, how about some breakfast?” He paused, looking up at the clock. “Or lunch, I suppose.”

“We really couldn’t impose further,” Octavia protested. “You’ve already done so much.”

“Well, even if she’s not hungry, I certainly am,” Vinyl said.

Octavia shot Vinyl a glare, which the unicorn took great pains not to notice.

“You both need it,” the stallion said. “Besides, I imagine neither of you has anywhere else you can go at the moment. Eat, mend, and take some time to decide what you want to do next.”

“We appreciate your generosity—” Octavia started, but was cut off.

“And that’s why we’ll take you up on that,” Vinyl finished. The unicorn grinned as Octavia shot her what most ponies would call a “look”. “He’s right, Octavia. I’m hungry, I bet you’re starving, we can’t go back home, and the diners down here probably suck. Look, I’ll make sure I pay him back as soon as I get my hooves on my BitCard again, okay?”

The growling of Octavia’s stomach reminded her that, while pride and principal were worthy things, neither did much for hunger. “Fine,” she finally relented.