A plain red car drove down the streets past various different buildings of different sizes, painted in a wide array of colours. On the outside, there were no decorations, bumper stickers, or hood ornaments of any variety that made the car stand out as its paint glistened in the morning sun, shining off into the windows all around it as tiny rocks slid underneath the turning tyres.

The seats inside of the car were lined with plain black leather, with two headrests poking out of the front seats. A male with plain white skin and black hair was driving the car with a grey-skinned and purple-haired woman acting as his front-seat passenger. The two of them wore gold rings with a single diamond around the ring fingers on their right hands. Both of them had bags beneath their chairs that they could easily reach for once their journey came to an end.

Behind the two grown-ups were a pair of elementary school girls, both sitting by the doors with seatbelts gently strapped around their bodies. The one behind the woman had grey skin of her own but had chocolate hair tied up into a bun on top of her head. She wore a red coat with a brown skirt and wore two small red shoes with brown socks poking out of them. She had a cello case sitting next to her and casually peaked out of the window, watching all of the buildings pass her by.

The girl sitting next to the grey-skinned one was vastly different in a number of aspects. Her skin was white with bright blue and aqua hair that had no unique style and just simply hung down her forehead and back. She had a bright pink and yellow shirt on with dark green shorts and indigo shoes that had pink soles on the bottom. Unlike the girl next to her, her feet were pointed out and almost touched the back of the man's seat. She gave them a few shakes as she waited for the car to reach its destination, humming a little tune to herself as the vibrations of the moving vehicle continued to massage her butt.

"Can't believe that it's your first day of school together, girls." The man looked at both of the kids sitting in the back seat through the mirror in front of him, giving them both warm smiles as he watched both of them look up at him. "Well, technically, you used to go to Ponyville Elementary anyway, but this is the first time you're actually going together as real sisters."

"Step-sisters, Remix." The woman raised her finger and turned her head back to look at both of the children. She sighed and reached her arms out, placing her hand on the girl with grey skin. "Now I know that things between me and your dad were a bit... unsavoury, Octavia, but I don't want everyone in school to know that your mommy and daddy had a falling out that led to a big divorce. For now, I just want you to stay as beautiful as you already are, alright?"

"I don't know, mother..." Octavia put her hand to her head and felt her body grow cold as the memories flashed back into her mind. She could already hear the sounds of her previous father arguing with her mother echo in her ears as she began to drift off to her dark and hollow fantasies. "Are you sure that we're going to live well with Mr. Remix? He's a bit weird, If I do say so myself."

"Hey, chill, step-sis." The white-skinned kid looked over and held Octavia's hand rubbing it gently as she looked into her eyes. "It's fine. No, really, it is. You and I have always been best friends, right?" she asked, smiling as she patted her on the back. "Well now, we can be friends like this all the time! There's nothing really much to be sad about when you've got someone like me to help, right?"

"Thank you, Vinyl, but I'm still a bit shaken up from that divorce." Octavia inhaled and exhaled through her nose as she turned to face her step-sister, sandwiching her hand as she looked into her eyes. "I know that you and Mr. Remix are going to try, but right now, I just need some time to think."

"Hey, hey, I get it." Vinyl pushed her hands out towards Octavia and brushed her hand through Octavia's hair and watched her turn back towards the window. "But just remember that I'm always here if you wanna play and forget about your troubles."

"Thank you for being so supportive of her, Vinyl, but Octavia is right; she and I have had a few... issues trying to cope with the divorce of me and Fortissimo." The woman sighed and clutched the ring on her finger, looking out towards the road ahead. "But I think that it's great that you and your father are welcoming us with open arms. We need all of the comfort we can get after what we've had to go through."

"Symphony, it's best not to think about those kinda things too much." Remix turned down another street, replacing the buildings on the left hand side of the car with a wide open field and a massive building in the middle of it. "Let's just think about the future for now. And what better place to do it than right here?" He slightly lifted his foot off of the accelerator, slowing the vehicle down. "Take a look to your left, girls. That there is Canterlot High. One of the best—and only high schools—in the town. And soon, both of you will be going there instead of school."

"Canterlot High?" Symphony looked out at the high school and gave it a quick frisk, examining both the institute itself and the students that were walking into it. "Well, maybe that place would suit Vinyl, but my little Octavia has a place in Crystal Prep Academy for sure."

"Sure, you could go to CPA. If you had a few hundred thousand dollars in your bank account." Remix blew a small raspberry into his lips and drove past the statue. "But CHS is still just as good—and more affordable. Octavia, Vinyl, better look now, because we're gonna go soon and get you two to school."

Without another word, both of the kids turned their heads and looked out of the other car window to see them just catch the sides of Canterlot High as the car sped up and drove away. From their brief preview, however, they had seen a few teenagers talking together as they all filed into a room, ready to learn whatever lessons would be thrust unto them.

"We'll be arriving at Ponyville Elementary shortly, girls, so I'd say that now's a good time for you to get your bags." Remix nodded as he continued down the road, passing by a few more blocks and streets as his eyes focused on the road again. He turned a corner and went down one more turn, turning the vehicle to the left and down another path.

Both Vinyl and Octavia obeyed Remix's words and reached down beneath them, tugging on the seatbelts as they collected their bags from the floor of the car. Both of the girls had large backpacks that were capable of holding everything that they would need to survive a day of school without lack of hydration, nutrients, or writing utensils, but Octavia's was brown and had golden locks on the straps while Vinyl's was green and had a simple zipper holding it together.

In comparison to Canterlot High from earlier, Ponyville Elementary was much smaller in comparison, with only one floor but still enough rooms for every pupil. A single pathway led up to the school with a playground just branching out from behind it. Plain windows were dotted on the sides that showed basic classrooms with desks and chalkboards inside while a single flag flew from the flagpole by the driveway.

Given that there were other parents leaving their students at the elementary school as well, Remix had to parallel park to even attempt to get both his daughter and step-daughter out on time. He stopped in the middle of the road and squeezed in between a pair of cars, narrowly avoiding bumping or scratching them with his own as he managed to slide into the gap.

"Alright, you two, I'll walk you both in today and take you to your classes." Symphony opened up her door and walked out of the car before reaching to open the back doors. She opened it wide and watched Octavia climb off slowly before Vinyl leapt out afterwards. "Now, I hope that you two behave nicely today. Study hard, play well with your new friends, and please, don't bring up that me and Fortissimo broke up. That's something that I would much rather leave for the parent's evening at the end of the month."

"Are you sure that I'm ready for all this, mother?" Octavia slung her backpack around her shoulders, picking up her cello case again once she was done with the task. "What if one of the other kids start to tease me because you and father broke up?"

"If they do, then I'll have a long talk with their own parents and settle things straight." Symphony squatted down and put both of her hands on Octavia's shoulders. "Now listen, Octavia. You're always going to be my baby girl no matter what happens. And I know that this whole thing's a bit of a shock to the system, but Remix is right. We can't focus on the past for now. It's gone now and we have to think about the future." She stood back up and held out her hand. "Now come on. Be a big girl for mother and walk with me and Vinyl to your class."

"I'll be right here for you too, Octy." Vinyl held onto Octavia's other hand as she took her mother's hand. She was still able to hold onto her cello case even when Vinyl's hand clasped onto her's. "And if some big, mean bully decides to push you around, I'll be right there to save you. Best friends forever, right?"

"Y-yeah. Best friends forever..." Despite what her mother had said and that she was in the comfort of one of her only friends, Octavia's mind was still wracked with discord as she struggled to process the situation at hand. All of her life, she had lived in the care of both of her parents, but now that one of them was gone forever, it was as if half of her memories had been ripped out of her mind and heartlessly torn up right before her eyes.

Octavia, Vinyl, and Symphony walked into Ponyville Elementary, passing by a nimiety of lockers as the three of them passed through the children inside. Their footsteps reverberated through the halls but were vastly overshadowed by the sudden outburst of the school bell which signalled the end of the free periods and the beginning of the day's lessons.

Before the three of them could make it down another hallway, a woman with bright pink skin and slightly darker hair with a smiling flower hairclip walked up to them wearing what could only be described as a picnic blanket for a skirt. Her shoes were golden with open tops held together by a long nylon lace. She held a small paperclip under her arms as she looked down at both Vinyl and Octavia.

"Oh! Principal Cheerilee. I wasn't expecting to see you today." Symphony let go of both Vinyl and Octavia as she walked up to the pink woman. "Is there anything I need to know? Different timetables because of my recent re-marriage?"

"Symphony Orchestra, there's no need to worry about this." Cheerilee plucked her clipboard from her arm and held it out against her chest. "The city council already told me about what happened with you and Fortissimo. And let me be the first to say that I'm really sorry for your loss." Her smile withered into a small frown as she pulled Octavia close to her and tousled her hair. "It must be hard for poor little Octavia here, having to spend her life without her dad."

"Yes. But Mr. Remix is doing his best to try and fill the void that Fortissimo left when he tried to take my family's prize cello and sell it to try and get a harpsichord for his orchestra." Symphony looked down at Vinyl Scratch and motioned for her to step forward. She watched the white-haired child come close and give Octavia a hug. "He's got a lovely daughter, you know. Vinyl's really been doing her best to play with Octavia and keep her busy for the most part, but we've still been scarred by that jerk's brutish attempt at improving his craft."

"Well, it's good to know that both Vinyl and Octavia are getting along. After the break-up, I imagine that Octavia could really use some friends to have her back when the going gets rough." Cheerilee smiled down on the two children and looked both of them in the eyes. "And because they've both been doing well together, I should hope that them being together in the same class should bode well. So, starting today, both Octavia and Vinyl's classes are going to be the same. I hope that this way, they can learn together and feel comfortable, with or without making new friends."

"Did you hear that, Octy? We're gonna be in the same classes from now on!" Vinyl beamed from ear to ear. "Won't that be great?"

"Yes. I suppose..." A small grin crept onto Octavia's face as she was met with Vinyl's enthusiasm. Craning her head up again, she looked at Principal Cheerilee again. "So, where do we start?"

"Follow me, you two." Cheerilee took the hands of both Octavia and Vinyl as she slid the clipboard underneath her arm again. With both of the kids safely in her grasp, she walked down the corridor. "And don't worry about being late. It's the first day of a new school year. Plus, I've already informed the teachers about you and Vinyl being step-sisters. I've also said that they're not allowed to tell anyone else, just to keep you safe, Octavia."

"Thank you, Miss Cheerilee." Octavia smiled as she held on tighter and turned the corner towards her first class. Just as she was about to turn away, she waved goodbye to Symphony, who proceeded to walk out of the building. "I'll see you soon, mother."

Cheerilee lead both Octavia and Vinyl into a new room where there was already a lesson in progress, with two empty seats in the front of the room ready to be occupied by both of the children. Every other desk had been taken and the lesson was already being drawn up on the chalkboard once the door had been opened. Silence had fallen between the teacher and his students as Octavia and Vinyl walked inside and took their seats.

"Have a good day, you two. And welcome back to Ponyville Elementary." Principal Cheerilee gave both Octavia and Vinyl a caring smile as she blew them kisses and walked off, shutting the door behind her.

"Ah. You must be Octavia and Vinyl Scratch." A tall man with brown hair and a plain jacket walked up to the two of them, watching as they fished their pencil cases out of their bags and laid them down on the table before plucking out their notebooks as well. "It's nice to see you here. I hope that my lessons teach you well. We wouldn't want to have a student who falls behind the others, right?"

"No we wouldn't, Mr..." Octavia looked up at the man and just stared at him bug-eyed.

"Hooves. Mr. Hooves." He shook her hand before moving on to shake Vinyl's hand. "It's very nice to meet the both of you. And, might I say that both of you are really cute? Seriously, don't ever change, both of you."

"Thanks, mister!" Vinyl almost shouted as she put her arms down on the desk and prepared for the first lesson of the day.

"You're welcome, Vinyl." Mr. Hooves flashed a grin at her. "Now then, class. For today's first lesson, we're going to be looking at one of the most important things in the history of the human race." He wrote down the subject matter of the lesson on the chalkboard and performed a slashing motion that put a giant line beneath it. "Time. More importantly, how to keep track of it and the simple basic lessons." he rubbed the board clean and began to write the first part of his lesson. "Now then, I hope that all of you are getting all of this down, because I'm going to be testing you on it afterwards."

As Mr. Hooves proceeded to explain how time works and how the students could keep track of it, Octavia drifted off to the realm of her own thoughts as she began to copy his explanations with pictures. Through her own inner turmoil, she almost ended up drawing an oval instead of a circle for the clock face, but was still able to put down the notches and hours that they represented. As she got her clock finished, she looked over to Vinyl, who was hastily drawing her own picture of a misshapen circle that didn't connect but was still close enough to being full and complete. She watched as she put out twelve more bumps to tell the time and looked up as Mr. Hooves droned on.

Octavia felt the weight of the world pressing down on her mind as she looked up and watched as Mr. Hooves told everyone about the small and big hands, and how they would move around the clock and in which way. Everything that she had heard, said, and been told was now swirling around her mind like a tornado of thoughts, with each one giving another scenario to ruminate on as she tried her hardest to focus on the lesson. Just as she felt like she was about to snap, she looked over and saw Vinyl stick her tongue out while her pencil glided over the paper, making the best lines that she could. Smiling at her best friend turned step-sister, all she could do was smile and come back to reality as her mind cleared. Even when it felt like the world could be coming to an end for her, she knew that Vinyl Scratch would always be her friend, come what may. With that solace now replacing the former maelstrom of doubt in her mind, she went on with her work.