From an external perspective, the scene in the study must have seemed quite serene. The room was warm and well-lit, the cozy fabric of the carpet and the curtains silencing any stray echo. The metronome on the desk was diligently tok-tok-toking a slow tempo. Octavia was sitting back on her haunches, her hooves resting on the head of the viola standing between her legs, not leaning on it, but simply holding it upright. She nodded her head in time with the metronome, smiling at her student as she read along with the music being played.

For Silver Spoon, the whole situation was much more frustrating than it might have appeared. She was standing on her back hooves for once, assisted by a wooden frame that she was leaning against as she sawed at her instrument, drawing rich but distinctly out-of-tune notes from it. She trembled from the effort of standing in the awkward position as she frantically tried to keep up with the metronome, which was getting away from her despite its leisurely pace. This was primarily due to her constant attempts to adjust her hoof placement on the neck of the instrument to correct her tone, and the extra time was rendering both efforts futile.

"Augh!" She finally gave in to her frustration and dropped the instrument from the crook of her neck, letting it dangle in her hoof and collapsing back out of the brace and settling back onto her haunches, which shook from the effort of standing. She noticed her forelegs were also trembling, and she put the viola and bow down as gently as she could before shaking them out, trying to will some strength back into the weary muscles.

"That was very good," Octavia said, reaching over and stopping the metronome. "Your tone and bowing techniques are excellent, considering how little practice you have had. You need to focus more on keeping pace with the metronome, though, and not moving your left hoof once you've placed it."

Silver Spoon looked quizzically at her teacher. "But...all those...notes were...wrong," she panted, which amplified her irritation. Why was she tired? She had barely been doing anything.

Octavia nodded. "They were, yes, although I'm quite impressed that you could tell. Your ear is extremely well-trained." She beamed. "You are a natural, it seems."

"Some natural," Silver Spoon grunted. "I can't even practice for ten minutes without getting tired."

Octavia shrugged. "You are training your muscles to do something they've never had to do before. It will take some time to strengthen them. And it's been forty-five minutes, not ten." She nodded at the cuckoo clock on the wall behind Silver Spoon.

Silver Spoon glanced briefly at the clock, surprised as she often was to find that time seemed to pass much more quickly in Octavia's studio than elsewhere. "Still--"

Octavia cut her off with a wave of the hoof. "No, none of that," she said, giving her student a stern look. "No 'buts', no 'still', no 'should', 'could', or 'ought' in my studio. You know that."

Silver Spoon pursed her lips. "I know--" she barely managed to catch herself before the word 'but' got away from her again.

Octavia narrowed her eyes and gave her a knowing smirk. "See? It's too easy to second-guess yourself. You need to stop judging your own progress. That's what I'm here to do. If you're really struggling with something, I'll let you know. What did I tell you I expect from my students?"

Silver Spoon sheepishly tapped her forehooves together, letting her ears fold back against her head. "Our best."

"Who's best?" Octavia prompted.

Silver Spoon sighed. "My best."

"Precisely," Octavia's stern face melted into a gentle smile. "Not my best, not some other student's best, not Vinyl's best. Yours." She put a hoof on Silver Spoon's shoulder. "And even though somepony else might have told you your best isn't good enough, you need to learn that that's simply not true, especially here."

Silver Spoon smiled weakly up at the older mare. "I know."

Octavia playfully raised an eyebrow. "No 'but' this time?"

The smile widened. "No, not this time."

"Good," Octavia said. "Now, I think we may have worked a little too hard this afternoon. I can tell you are running out of steam--and patience," she smiled, "so perhaps we'll cut our lesson a little short today."

Silver Spoon nodded. "I think that might be a good idea." She started to put her viola back in its case, but was suddenly interrupted by a flourish of pink sparkles erupting from the empty air in front of her, producing in their wake a tightly rolled scroll with a blue wax seal.

"Oh!" Octavia said. "Were you expecting a message?"

Silver Spoon blinked, perplexed. "No...and even if I was, that's not our messenger's magic...or our house ribbon." She glanced at Octavia. "Maybe it's for you?"

She shook her head. "Our messages usually go to Vinyl...or my inbox." She glanced at the empty scrollbox on her desk. The seal was unlit, indicating it hadn't been targeted.

"Huh." Silver Spoon picked the scroll up and broke the wax. As soon as she read the salutation, her heart stopped and she quickly re-rolled it.

Octavia's eyes widened. "Something wrong, dear?"

Silver Spoon shook her head with a touch more speed than was believable. "No, nothing's wrong. I just...didn't expect to get anything." She pasted a smile she hoped looked more natural than it felt on her muzzle.

Octavia raised an eyebrow at her, clearly unconvinced. "Are you sure?" Silver Spoon nodded. "Well," she said, "do you need Vinyl to send a reply?"

"Um..." Silver Spoon contemplated the scroll in her hooves. "It's...kind of personal. Can she do it without knowing who or where it's going to?"

Octavia nodded. "At least, she can if it has a return seal on it."

Silver Spoon considered the scroll for a few moments longer, as though wondering whether it would give her the answer. Finally, she sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I should. Can I borrow some parchment?"

"Of course," Octavia said, and she trotted out of the office, calling Vinyl's name as she did.

Alone in the study, Silver Spoon sighed and unfurled the scroll completely, reading it through.

Dear Sissy,

Yes, yes, I know you're surprised to hear from me. Yes, I know it's been a long time since the last time we spoke, but I think you know why I had to get in touch now. I think you also realize it's best if we discuss the matter in pony. Perhaps you can come over for tea this afternoon? I'd also really like to see you and catch up a little, too...if you want.

Please send your reply as soon as you can, so I know when to expect you.

Love,
Starry

Silver Spoon pursed her lips tightly, unsure of exactly what emotion she was supposed to feel. She wasn't even exactly sure of what emotion she did feel. There was surprise, obviously, and a little panic, but quickly outstripping those those were anger and joy in roughly equal measure. Why, Starry? Why now? Everything is fine the way it is, and you're going to mess it up. Again. But she couldn't deny the surge of excitement washing through her at the idea of seeing Silver Star again. Her sister was right; it had been a long time. Maybe long enough.

When Octavia returned, Silver Spoon wrote a quick affirmative note, telling Silver Star to be ready for her to arrive within the hour. Then she finished packing up her viola, thanked Octavia for her lesson, apologized for begging out of staying for supper, and exchanged goodbyes with Scootaloo and Vinyl Scratch, who paused their game long enough to wish her well. Scootaloo seemed especially crestfallen that Silver Spoon wouldn't be staying for dinner, but Silver Spoon knew she was the only one in the room who could tell. She wondered if Scootaloo could tell she was disappointed, too. Unfortunately, Silver Spoon suspected this was not a meeting she could put off.

It took longer than Silver Spoon had expected to make her way to Silver Star's home. She had stopped at the manor first to drop off her viola, and Intricacy had waylaid her to deliver a dozen scrolls, all tied with gold ribbons and bearing the Rich seal. She had told him to throw them away, that she wasn't interested in hearing from Diamond Tiara any more. The stallion had given her a look that contained the most emotion she'd ever seen on his face before--his eyes widened a few millimeters; one eyebrow lifted almost imperceptibly higher than the other--before suggesting that perhaps she would rather he simply deliver them to her chambers, and she could do as she pleased with them. She had almost reprimanded him for arguing with her, but stopped herself in time to recognize he was trying to look out for her. In the end, she told him that would be fine and finally extricated herself from the conversation to start the long walk out to Silver Star's tiny house in the sticks.

By the time she broke through the forest edge into the clearing around Silver Star's home, it was well past the hour she'd told her sister to expect. Silver Star was standing on the front steps, tapping a hoof anxiously. As soon as she saw Silver Spoon, her cerulean face broke into a huge smile and she bounded down the steps, racing over to her sister and scooping her into a hug. "Sissy!"

Silver Spoon grunted and blew her sister's silver mane out of her face. "H-hey Starry. You're crushing me."

Silver Star ignored her. "You're late, you know. You said 'within the hour'." She indicated the sun over her shoulder. "It's been two hours."

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes and fought her way out of Silver Star's grip. "It's been an hour and a half, if that. Come on, let's go inside. Wouldn't want you to be spotted talking to me, would we?" She flinched inwardly; the snipe had had more venom than she'd intended.

Silver Star's face fell. "Come on, Sissy, you know Silversmith--"

"I know, I know," Silver Spoon backtracked. "I just..." She sighed. "I don't like knowing you're living in Ponyville but not getting to talk to you ever."

Her sister smiled sadly. "Yeah, I hate it, too." She nuzzled Silver Spoon, who grunted but accepted the gesture of affection. "Hey, it won't be that way forever, though. But you're right, we should probably go inside." Silver Star led Silver Spoon back to the violet carriage that served as her home.

"You know this carriage looks ridiculous, right?" Silver Spoon said, eyeing the garish decorations critically.

Silver Star let her mouth fall agape in mock horror. "How dare you!" Then she grinned and pushed the door open for Silver Spoon. "It's all part of the show, dear Sissy. Part of the character."

"I still don't know why you don't just build a house if you're going to stay in Ponyville," Silver Spoon groused as she squeezed past a trunk overflowing with various magic props and ducked under a lavender hammock to join her sister at the tiny dining table in the rear of the trailer.

Silver Star shrugged as she floated a teapot over to the table from a camp stove and retrieved two cups from hooks in the wall. "You get used to it. I mean, I'd been on the road for ages before I came back, so it was just another part of life by then."

"Uh huh," Silver Spoon grumbled. "And what does Glimmer think of it?"

Silver Star rolled her eyes as she poured and prepared a cup of tea, sliding it over to Silver Spoon. "Well obviously she hates it." She smirked. "I guess it would be tough to come down from living in the mayoral mansion of your own personal town to living in a trailer. Anyway, we just live at her place, and I just come here to practice or when I need some time alone."

"Or when you want to meet secretly with somepony, huh?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Well, it does serve that purpose as well, yes."

"I still can't believe no one's caught on yet," Silver Spoon said, shaking her head. "Least of all father."

Silver Star shrugged and grinned. "Well, I learned from the best. Mom always did have a knack for character work."

"Yeah, but you'd think he'd recognize her cloak. Or at least her hat."

"Puh-lease," Silver Star scoffed. "You think he even looks twice at a stage magician like 'The Great and Powerful Trrrixie'!?" As she said the name, she cast the illusion she'd been wearing for several years. Her mane shimmered and darkened to a light cornflower blue while her coat brightened to a cool azure. The star-studded cloak and hat flew from their hooks by the door and wrapped themselves around her, completing the effect, and Trixie Lulamoon stood up from the table with a broad grin. "Ta-da!"

Silver Spoon sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Starry, I get it. Very convincing."

"Don't mock," Silver Star huffed, crossing her forelegs. "It's worked so far."

Silver Spoon smirked. "Somehow I doubt that it's been flawless."

Her sister pursed her lips. "Well, no, of course not. I mean, Twilight figured it out pretty quickly. And Glimmer, obviously. Well, and the other princesses. But!" She drew herself back up and puffed out her chest. "Nopony else!"

"At least no one who cares," Silver Spoon corrected her.

Silver Star shrugged, floating the hat and cloak back to their pegs and letting her coat and mane fade back to their natural colors. "Or remembers. Come on, though." She grinned at her sister, poking the younger mare in the shoulder. "You're a little impressed, right?"

Silver Spoon sighed as heavily as she could manage. "Yes, Starry, it's a great trick." Then she smirked. "Better than all your other tricks, anyway."

Silver Star stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Very funny."

"I thought so," Silver Spoon said, stirring her tea. "Now, why did you want to meet? You know if Silversmith finds out you're back in Ponyville he's going to be pretty upset. He told everyone to forget you ever existed, plus he thinks you 'stole' mama's diamond."

"I didn't steal it, she gave it to me!" Silver Star shouted, slamming her hooves on the table and standing up. "It was always going to be mine, and just because she--"

"I know, I know!" Silver Spoon interrupted, holding up her hooves to placate her sister. "I'm just telling you what he told the mayor."

Silver Star sighed and settled back into her chair, leaning heavily on the table. "I know, Sissy. Sorry, I just...I still can't get over...him." She tapped the sides of her teacup anxiously. "I couldn't believe how he acted, and how...selfish he was." She gave Silver Spoon a tiny smile. "I mean, that's why I had to come home. I couldn't stay away any longer, not knowing if he was taking care of you or what was going on." She sighed. "But if he'd seen me as 'Silver Star'..."

"I know," Silver Spoon said softly. "That's why I didn't try to talk to you before. I figured if you were hiding behind an illusion, you had to have a good reason." She smirked. "That, and you kept getting yourself thrown out of town."

"It was a stage show, I was supposed to be bragging about myself!" Silver Star groused, throwing up her hooves. "And I didn't tell those foals to go and find an Ursa! It was just part of the character!"

"Uh huh. And the Alicorn Amulet?"

The older mare opened her mouth to retort but closed it without speaking. Then she cleared her throat and sipped her tea demurely. "We all make mistakes."

Silver Spoon giggled. "Some of us more than others."

"Hey now," Silver Star said, giving her sister a look. "I've come a long way."

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, you know I usually try to stay out of your business, so all I really know about your life kind of relies on what I can learn second-hoof from other ponies, especially Glimmer, since she talks to Twilight a lot, and Twilight talks to...well, everypony."

"And also by stalking me."

Silver Star scoffed. "I don't stalk, I observe. From a distance."

"Call it what you want, just remember to take your hat off next time you want to hide in a bush."

Silver Star wrinkled her muzzle in irritation. "Ponyfeathers. I always forget about that. Anyway, most of what I hear and see, I'm okay with."

"Really?"

Silver Star nodded. "I know, it's not perfect, but you're well taken care of, even if Silversmith isn't the...warmest of parents."

"That's some kind of understatement," Silver Spoon muttered.

Silver Star sighed. "You know if I could fix things, I would, but Silversmith is...well, who he is. And as long as he's keeping you warm, healthy, and fed, and not actively hurting you, I couldn't risk exposing myself and getting us both in trouble." Silver Spoon didn't respond, sipping her tea and giving her sister a pointed look. "Anyway, I've noticed some stuff recently that I think we need to discuss."

"Like what?"

Silver Star raised an eyebrow at her. "Like Scootaloo."

Silver Spoon inhaled a mouthful of tea and started choking. Silver Star jumped to her hooves and started whacking her on the back. "Wh-what...what do you...mean?" she managed between coughs and gasps, eyes streaming.

Silver Star floated a napkin over to her, and Silver Spoon started dabbing at her eyes and mouth, ignoring the smug smirk on her sister's face. "I think you know what I mean."

Silver Spoon cleared her throat one final time and sniffed, trying to regain her dignity. "I haven't the faintest clue what you mean. We're friends, that's all. I don't think that's anypony's business, least of all yours."

Silver Star gave her a knowing look. "Is that so? So all those nights I see you walking home with her and not coming home until after dark, practically skipping the whole way? Just friendly hangouts?"

Silver Spoon's face flushed. "Yes," she insisted. "Just friendly hangouts. Sometimes Miss Octavia gives me viola lessons, so I come home later than normal, because she makes me stay for dinner."

The look hardened. "Really. And the skipping?"

"I don't skip," Silver Spoon said, willing herself to stop blushing and failing. "What's wrong with having a friend? I hung out with Diamond Tiara all the time and you never sent me a scroll out of the ether before."

"This is different," Silver Star said. "Trust me, I've seen it before. Heck, I've been that pony before."

"What pony?"

Silver Star gave her sister a sad smile. "You know, the following around, staying for supper, skipping home from her place, smiling whenever she speaks pony." When Silver Spoon indicated she still wasn't following, Silver Star said, "I've been in love before."

Silver Spoon's brain was suddenly empty of all retorts, arguments, and questions. It was empty of everything except one word. Reflexively, she sputtered, "I'm not in love!"

Silver Star chuckled to herself. "Yeah, I used to say that to myself too." She smirked. "Every day when I came back to the dorm from hanging out with Shining Lights. But saying it doesn't make it true, Sissy."

"No, I mean, I'm really not," Silver Spoon insisted. "I don't even like mares. Heck, I don't even like stallions that much!"

This was the wrong thing to say. "Oh, is that so?" Silver Star said, grinning. "So maybe you just don't know what it feels like to be in love, then. For the record, it's that feeling you keep getting in your chest every time Scootaloo smiles at you."

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," Silver Spoon lied, raising her muzzle indignantly. "I barely know her; we're just partners on a school project."

"Yeah, so I hear." Silver Star gave her a knowing look. "Must be a heck of a project, considering how much time you two spend together."

"It is, and that's all there is to say about it." Silver Spoon said, taking another long sip of her tea as if to imply the matter was settled, whether Silver Star wanted it to be or not. "Is that all you wanted to talk about? Baseless accusations and wild fantasies?"

"Well...no, not really. What I really wanted to say was..." She sighed. "Look, even if nothing's going on, be careful, okay?"

"Careful of what? I told you I'm not--"

"No, I get that, it doesn't matter." Silver Star swirled the dregs of her tea and stared at them somberly. "It's just...I know you were pretty young when...when I left. Do you remember much about that?"

Silver Spoon looked down at the table. "Not really. A lot of yelling. A lot of crying. Father said some pretty awful stuff. I thought he was gonna hit you, but he never did."

"Small miracles," Silver Star muttered. "Look, no matter what he told you about...me, him, that day...it wasn't the whole story." Silver Spoon gave her sister a quizzical look, but didn't speak. "I know we didn't get along much, but we probably could've just lived like strangers in the same house until I moved out, but that was before..." She blinked a few times, staving off tears that were starting to line her eyelids. "When I was away at school, I met somepony. Somepony sweet, and smart, and sooo cute, and we started dating."

"I didn't know that," Silver Spoon said softly. "You never wrote about him in your scrolls."

Silver Star smiled sadly, a tear breaking free. "You were a little young to care about stuff like that, so I didn't mention her."

"Her?" Silver Star nodded. "So even before Glimmer..."

"Oh, long before Glimmer," Silver Star said. "You say you don't like stallions that much. Well I never liked stallions, at all. I only ever liked mares. I used to play with my dolls and pretend they were all mares, even though I had some stallions. I don't know what Silversmith thought about it at the time, but he never said anything until I wrote him asking if I could bring Shining Lights home to visit Ponyville over a break." She pursed her lips. "That didn't go well."

"What happened?"

Silver Star gave a dry, humorless laugh. "Well, I got a scroll right back demanding clarification about exactly who I was talking about. So I explained more, and then he sent a carriage to bring me home the same day. I didn't know what was going on, so I got on, but it turned out he was not exactly pleased I was romantically involved with another mare."

"What?" Silver Spoon said, stunned. "Really?"

Silver Star nodded. "He told me I was being brainwashed into stupid nonsense at that school and to dump Shining Lights immediately or he would pull me out of school and bring me home permanently. I told him I was in love, and I didn't care what he thought, and that he couldn't control me. He said 'We'll see about that' and by the end of the day, everything was official. I was out of school, Shining Lights and I were forbidden from communicating at all, and I was going to marry one of Silversmith's friend's son the next year."

"Whoa..." Silver Spoon breathed. "I can't believe he would go so far...just over you dating a mare?"

Silver Star nodded stoically. "Yeah. That's when we had that huge fight. I told him I was sick of him treating his family like a business, and that without mom he was a shell of a pony and it didn't matter what he did to us, it wouldn't bring her back." Silver Spoon's eyes bugged, and Silver Star smiled wanly. "Oh, yeah, he was real mad about that. That's probably the closest he came to hitting me. It was all I could do to get mom's hat and cloak before things got way out of hoof. I was just lucky he hadn't thought to take the diamond off yet." She sighed. "Anyway, that's pretty much the rest of the story. I never got to finish school, I ended up pulling mom's old carriage out of the garage," she paused to run a hoof lovingly across the wall beside her, "and never looked back."

"So all these years..."

"On the road," Silver Star said, nodding. "I never could hold a candle to mom as a stage magician, but I knew enough to pay the bills as long as I kept moving." She smiled wanly. "No town ever really wanted a repeat performance."

"Well, I mean, 'Trixie' is kind of mean, you know. No offense," Silver Spoon said.

Silver Star laughed. "Actually, 'Trixie' is the only reason I started getting multiple showings. Especially when I started to double down on the 'anything you can do, I can do better' act. I mean, obviously my magic is theatrical in nature, but that hardly matters. I don't actually have to outdo anypony, it just has to look like I have." She smiled. "It was just good luck that I managed to really iron out the wrinkles by the time I decided to risk coming back to Ponyville. That first show was supposed to be a stress-test, you know, really see if I could fool all the ponies I grew up around."

"A successful stress test, I guess."

Silver Star pursed her lips. "Well, yes and no. I wasn't kidding when I came back with the Alicorn Amulet. There was a pretty dark period there in the middle. Word traveled fast that 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' had been bested in the magical arts. Bookings dried up in a hurry after that. I really was after some revenge; I hadn't exactly planned on getting possessed by an ancient artifact of immense power. Anyway," she said, waving a hoof impatiently, "the point is, you need to be careful with Scootaloo. I don't want what happened to me to happen to you, okay?"

"But I'm not--"

"Fine!" Silver Star said, rolling her eyes. "You're not in love with her. You're not involved with her at all. It doesn't matter. It only matters what Silversmith thinks."

"He doesn't care about me," Silver Spoon muttered. "He thinks I'm stupid and useless. I doubt he cares what I do anymore."

Silver Star chuckled darkly. "Oh, you think so? Believe me, if he thinks it'll hurt his business, he'll make it a point to care. Think about it: when I left, the rumor mill went nuts. When mom was alive, it wasn't a big deal, because she was a unicorn and an actor, so who knew what kind of fillies she would raise? But after she passed, everypony started to wonder what Silversmith was doing that turned out somepony like me. Can you imagine what the fallout would be if ponies thought the same thing had happened to his other daughter, too? And you being an Earth pony on top of that?"

"I get it!" Silver Spoon snapped. She sighed. "So what do you want me to do about it? I can't stop spending time with her; we're project partners."

"Oh, no, you don't stop spending time with her!" Silver Star said, eyes wide. "I don't mean that at all. I just mean to say you need to be careful about what gets back to Silversmith. Keep your...ah, relationship, whatever that means to you, kinda quiet. And if you ever do finally break down and admit you like her," Silver Star smirked, "just keep the PDA to a minimum. At least until you can get away from Silversmith for good."

Silver Spoon ignored her sister's persistent needling. "Yeah, right. If I can get away from him. I'll have to repeat this year at least. I don't know how much you know about how school is going, but believe me, there's no way any university or trade school would let me in with grades like mine."

"Nothing specific," Silver Star said. "Cheerilee's pretty good about keeping the details private. However," Silver Star gave her a knowing wink, "based on what she and Glimmer have talked about, I think you might be surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it sounds like Cheerilee's a lot more optimistic about your future than you are. Apparently something's happened recently that really turned things around for you." Silver Star grinned at her, eyes sparkling. "I wonder what that something might be."

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, it turns out you do a lot better in school when you have somepony actually helping you instead of just doing the work for you."

"Well, whatever the reason, the result is the same." SIlver Star's grin softened to a reassuring smile. "I promise you, Sissy, you won't be stuck here in Ponyville forever. And when that day comes," she leaned across the table to nuzzle her sister, "we can do this all the time."

Silver Spoon smiled sheepishly. "Yeah...I think I'd really like that." There was a long silence, and then Silver Spoon said quietly, "You really think I like Scootaloo? Like that, I mean."

To her credit, Silver Star managed not to overreact. She did break into an unnecessarily large grin, and literal stars appeared in her eyes, but none of this colored her response. "Well, only you know how you actually feel, but I can say that I've been where you are, and that's what it meant for me. Maybe it means the same for you."

"Maybe," Silver Spoon murmured. She considered the implications of this for several moments. It was the sort of question she needed to discuss with another mare, ideally one who already was romantically involved with another mare, but unfortunately, Silver Star was not a good option for such a discussion. Silver Spoon loved her sister, but she was prone to exaggeration, flippancy, and drama, none of which would help Silver Spoon piece her feelings together. Luckily, Silver Spoon had already had another mare in mind to talk to. "Hey, Starry, can you do me a favor?" The unicorn tilted her head curiously. "Can you send a note to somepony for me?"

"Where are you hiding?" Scootaloo mumbled to herself as she stared intently at the screen in front of her, guiding the character represented there carefully around the map.

Next to her, Vinyl said, "Not hiding, hunting. Why don't you come find me?" She cackled ominously. "Time's running out..."

"Yeah, yeah..." Scootaloo furrowed her brow and tried to ignore the swiftly diminishing clock. Suddenly, the speakers erupted with the sound of a magic blast, and her character slumped lifeless to the floor. "Buck!" Scootaloo swore, miming throwing the controller in her hooves across the room without actually letting it go. "How?" she demanded of her mother.

Vinyl grinned at her daughter. "Brilliance. Wisdom. Experience." The grin widened. "Plus, I've been following you around the level for, like, a full minute."

"Oh, for--"

"Vy?" Octavia stuck her head into the living room. "Can I get you to send somepony a note for me?"

"Sure thing, Tavi," Vinyl said, clambering up from the floor and trotting over to her wife. "Who's the target?"

"Silver Spoon."

This caught Scootaloo's attention, and she glanced over at her mothers. "Silver Spoon? Why, something wrong?"

Octavia shook her head as Vinyl took the scroll from her mate. "Nothing wrong, no. She just wants to meet for tea. Something about her lessons, I would imagine." She watched as Vinyl focused on the scroll, which glowed blue for an instant and then vanished in a puff of blue glitter. "Anyway, I'm going to go meet her. I should be back in time for dinner, but if not, Vy, there's some food in the icebox. Do you think you can reheat it without setting the living room on fire?"

"Probably," Vinyl said. "No promises, though."

"Very well. I'll be back later."

"'K. Bye, Tavi." Vinyl came and sat back down next to Scootaloo as Octavia collected her saddlebags and left. "Anyway, where were we?" She grinned. "Oh, right, I was busy schooling you in the art of war."

"Hmph," Scootaloo scowled and slouched back against the couch as the game started again. The two ponies played in relative silence for a few minutes, then Scootaloo said, "Hey, Mama Vy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, kid." Vinyl smiled at her daughter. "What's up?"

Scootaloo clenched her jaw, suddenly nervous. "Actually...I need to tell you something first."

Vinyl paused the game and turned on the sofa to face Scootaloo directly. "Okay, is everything alright?" Worry creased her normally carefree expression. "You know Tavi's better at serious stuff than me, but I'll try my best."

"No, everything's okay," Scootaloo said, smiling. "And I know you don't like serious conversations, but I really need your help this time."

Vinyl nodded sincerely. "Then I'm all ears."

Scootaloo pursed her lips, trying to arrange the words in her head so they sounded right before she said them. "So...I think you and mom have probably known for a long time, and just never said anything about it, but..." She sighed. "I'm bisexual."

Vinyl didn't really react. She smiled, nodded, and said, "Okay." Then her eyes widened. "Wait, was that right? You said it was serious...uh..." The unicorn floundered, visibly panicking. "I mean, I'm really glad you felt comfortable telling me that. Yeah," she nodded firmly. "That's what I meant to say. You're our daughter and we love you no matter what." Her smile faltered a bit, her anxiety as obvious as any emotion ever was on her ivory face.

Scootaloo couldn't help but giggle. "It's alright, Mama Vy. I kinda figured you wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I mean...you and Mama Tavi..." She shrugged. "But it's something I'd never really thought about until...well, recently. It seemed like something you should know."

Vinyl sighed, obviously relieved. Then she smiled. "Well, I meant what I said. We really would love you, no matter what you told us." She reached out and gave her daughter a tight hug. "But if you were wondering whether Tavi and I suspected, well..." She grinned. "You've always been pretty smitten with Rainbow Dash. And we did wonder for a while if you and Sweetie Belle were hiding something from us." She paused, then raised an eyebrow at Scootaloo. "Are you?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "No, I don't think she'd be interested anyway."

"Hmm..." Vinyl gave Scootaloo a look she couldn't decipher. "Well, anyway, we always agreed that whoever you brought home, if you ever did, we would be equally happy." Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and glared into the middle distance. "Unless they were a mumble rapper. Then we agreed we would throw you out and never speak to you again."

Scootaloo laughed. "Well, yeah, I always knew that was the case. I think you'd be justified." She smiled. "But it is good to hear."

Vinyl grinned. "I'm glad. I'm a little surprised you thought you might hear anything else."

Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "Well, I don't really think I expected anything in particular. I always assumed you'd be pretty laid back about it, but..." She sighed. "Well, I always assumed my friends would have been, too."

Vinyl blinked. "Wait, were they not?" Rage flashed across her crimson eyes. "What did they say?"

Scootaloo held up a soothing hoof. "It's fine, mom. Everything's okay now."

"But that means they weren't okay before!" Vinyl said, her horn slowly starting to glow. "What happened? If they said anything to hurt--"

"Mama, stop!" Scootaloo put a hoof on Vinyl's shoulder, and the unicorn slowly settled back to the sofa. Her magic faded and Scootaloo sighed. "I told you it's fine. I'm an adult, and I had an adult problem, so I handled it. I mean...I didn't handle it great at first, but that's on me. And yeah, there were some...mean words exchanged, but we're working through it."

"Hmph," Vinyl grunted, her brow still furrowed angrily. "If you say so."

"I do," Scootaloo said. "Anyway, that sort of threw me off. Like, I told Rainbow, and she was really cool, so I figured it would be the same with everypony. Then Apple Bloom--"

"I knew it!" Vinyl was back on her hooves again. "I knew it was gonna be an Apple! Oh, when I get my hooves on that--what?" Her tirade was cut short by Scootaloo's icy scowl. "I mean...I wasn't gonna hurt her or anything, I was just...oh, fine." She sighed and threw herself back down on the sofa.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Mama, I know you mean well, but I really need you to keep your cool. Besides, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about anyway."

"It isn't?" Vinyl looked surprised. "What is it, then? You know I'm more the...go crazy and get in trouble kind of problem solver." She sheepishly looked down at her hooves, tapping them together in front of her nose.

"I know," Scootaloo smirked. "But I know you're the one I need to help me this time, because..." She took a deep breath. "Well, because you married an Earth pony."

"Oh, well yeah." Vinyl said. "So?"

"Well," Scootaloo said, "I thought Earth ponies didn't usually have same-sex relationships, because they couldn't reproduce that way."

Vinyl nodded. "Yeah, that's true. Or at least, that's why they don't usually pursue them, but it's not because they don't want to, they just don't bother."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at her mother. "What do you mean?"

Vinyl tapped her chin with a hoof. "Hmm...well, Earth ponies are tribal, so they're pretty much slaves to tradition, and their relationships are, too. It's pretty rare for any Earth pony to marry outside of their tribe, regardless of gender, and because marriage within the tribe is usually for reproduction, same-sex relationships just don't make sense." She smirked. "And you know how rational Earth ponies are." Scootaloo chuckled. "But it turns out that when it comes to an emotional connection, gender doesn't seem to factor in much."

"Really?"

Vinyl nodded. "Earth ponies will fall in love with anypony. And when they do, whew Princess, you better be prepared, because Earth ponies love hard." She grinned. "And they won't cut you any slack, either. That stubbornness is just a beautiful, fascinating, frustrating part of who they are. If you don't stand up for yourself, they'll run out of patience. It's not like dating a pegasus, who you can usually just tire out, or other unicorns, who are pretty easy to distract with a new book or trinket or something. Earth ponies keep you on the tips of your hooves."

"Wait, you dated other pegasi and unicorns?" Scootaloo asked. Somehow it had never occurred to her that her parents had ever been involved with anyone but one another.

Vinyl nodded. "Sure. Nothing serious, really. A few in college, a few during the year I took off before the Conservatory. All mares," she added, answering Scootaloo's unspoken question. "I've always been a filly seeking a filly."

"Always?"

"Ever since I could tell I had a preference."

"Huh." Scootaloo pondered this for a moment. "I wonder why..." She trailed off, embarrassed.

"Why it took you until now?" Vinyl finished. Scootaloo nodded, blushing. Her mother smiled. "Everypony's different. Besides, according to most pegasi I know, it never really occured to them to have a preference." She shifted across the sofa to press herself against Scootaloo. "But I think it's smart that you actually took the time to really explore your feelings and fully understand yourself."

Scootaloo smiled and the blush deepened a shade. "Thanks, but I didn't really mean to do it. I just...well, I realized I had a crush on another mare and it all kind of came crashing down on me at once."

"Oh yeah?" Vinyl asked, thoroughly failing to hide her excitement. "Is it somepony we know?"

"Yeah..." Scootaloo said, briefly wrestling with herself before deciding her mother could help her more if she had all the information. "It's...it's Silver Spoon."

Vinyl stared at her for several uneasy seconds before bursting into laughter. "Hey!" Scootaloo said, scowling. "It's not funny!"

Vinyl shook her head, waving a hoof. "No, no, it's not that, it's just..." She looked up at Scootaloo, grinning. "I owe your mother a night at the symphony."

Scootaloo blinked, confused. "Why?"

The unicorn sighed. "Because she's smarter than I am, and she figured that out weeks ago."

"Figured what out? That I had a crush on Silver Spoon?"

Vinyl nodded. "The day after you guys had...well, the day after 'the incident', she came to me in tears because she knew you were smitten with Silver Spoon, and she knew that something had happened between the two of you, and something else had happened with the other Crusaders, and she was afraid you had gotten your heart broken."

Scootaloo stared at her, stunned. "She did?"

Vinyl nodded again, chuckling. "Oh yeah. She's sharp, your mother. Honestly, she wanted so bad to tell you that she knew everything and ask you if she could help, but she didn't want you to feel like she was invading your privacy." She sighed. "Anyway, I told her she was crazy, partly just to rile her up, because it turns out your mother can't be sad and annoyed at the same time, which has worked wonders for me for years." She gave Scootaloo a conspiratorial wink and a grin. "But that backfired, because she was so sure she was right that she made me promise if it turned out to be true, I had to take her to the symphony and not complain about the lack of synthesizers even once." She shuddered theatrically.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled."

Vinyl laughed. "She will, but not about the symphony." She smiled. "She'll just be happy to know that even though she was right about you and Silver Spoon, you still seem to be on pretty good terms."

"Yeah," Scootaloo said. "But...I don't think she feels the same way."

"Oh? Have you asked?" Scootaloo nodded. "I see." Vinyl tapped her chin with a hoof. "Well, I have just one piece of advice, if you're interested."

"Yeah, I am," Scootaloo said. "That's kind of why I asked you, I mean...you got an Earth pony to give you a chance, so I was kind of hoping you might have an idea."

"I do, but you might not exactly love it."

"Why not?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's not exactly actionable," Vinyl said.

Scootaloo shrugged. "I'll try anything."

"Alright, here you go: be patient."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at her. "That's it? 'Be patient'?"

Vinyl nodded. "I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's honestly the best advice I can give you. I know how hard it is to actually follow through on, but I promise you it works. If you and she are meant to have a shot, then you have to give her time. You can't pester an Earth pony into giving you a chance, you can't wear them down, you can't 'prove' yourself to them, you have to show them you are willing to wait."

"So what, it's a test?"

The unicorn shook her head. "No, and thinking about it that way will get you in trouble. It's more like..." She furrowed her brow, trying to come up with an appropriate metaphor. Then she sighed. "It's not really like anything else. It's just...it's just how you show them you care. It's how you show her she's worth the effort, worth the time, worth putting reins on your 'pegasus-ness'--or in my case, my 'unicorn-ness'--long enough to show her you aren't going to lose interest."

Scootaloo pursed her lips. "I'm not going to lose interest!"

"It's nothing personal," Vinyl said. "It's just how we are. Both of us. Pegasi live fast, so they love fast, and that sometimes means they don't love for very long. And unicorns either get distracted easily or they get tunnel vision, so love can be forced to take a back seat. Earth ponies don't tolerate either of those things. When they love, they mean for it to last, so they're pretty cautious about who they take that chance on. So," Vinyl said, giving her daughter an appraising look. "Do you think you can convince Silver Spoon that you're worth that chance?"

"I know I can," Scootaloo said, her head spinning with the intensity of the truth in her words.

"And you'll wait until she gives you that chance, even if it takes a year or more?"

"I'd wait forever." Scootaloo surprised herself with the corny hyperbole of the statement, and she blushed immediately. "I mean...yes."

Vinyl giggled. "I don't think you'll have to wait quite that long. In fact, I think you'll know one way or the other before you leave for the Academy."

"Really? Why?"

Vinyl gave her a knowing grin. "Just a feeling."