In the horizon, the world was slowly brought to life as the sun slowly made its journey from behind the mounds and hills that formed the landscape. As its light shone down upon the world, animals began to exit their homes, creatures began to stir and awaken, while some more nocturnal beings returned to the shadows of their dens to catch a good day's rest.

As the rays of the sun fell upon Ponyville, beams snaked in between crevices of a shade that had been pulled over a window. These beams of light poured over a single eye that twitched and clenched in response as its owner grabbed a pillow and shoved it over her face.

"Ugh... stupid sun.... why Celestia... why?"

Octavia turned about in her sleeping bag towards the bed. It was just then she noticed it was empty.

"Rise and shine, sleepy head!"

Octavia groaned. "Pinkamena... I'm trying to sleep..."

Pinkie balked. "What!? At this hour!? Nopony is still asleep at this hour!"

Octavia huffed. "Maybe not back home... but here it's quite the opposite..."

Pinkie frowned. "Aww. I made breakfast and everything! Hay Bacon and Tofu Eggs!"

Octavia remained silent for several seconds. Truth be told, she didn't want to get up. She REALLY didn't want to get up. It had been years since she had to wake up at this hour, and it was only at this time that she began to realize how different she was from when she left her home; back then, she'd have been up forever ago, but now she cherished every extra hour of sleep she could grab.

Still, Pinkie had made breakfast. What kind of sister would she be to let that go to waste?

"Did you make some for Vinyl as well...?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yup! I wanna be a good guest, so I made food for everypony!"

Octavia couldn't help but grin. At least she wouldn't suffer alone, and if she knew Vinyl, her suffering would be far greater.

"Ugh... I have got the worst hangover..."

Octavia couldn't help but give a satisfied grin at hearing her roommate's words. "Well, Vinyl, seems your habits finally catch up with you?"

Vinyl groaned. "Stop talking so loud... I feel like my head's been stomped on by angry bison..."

Octavia took a sip of her tea. "Then drink something to hydrate yourself, Vinyl. It's a far cry better than hearing you complain about nature's way of telling you you've had too much alcohol."

Vinyl didn't respond verbally. She just reached a hoof forward and grabbed her cup of tea, taking a sip from it. Pinkie Pie trotted up to them and placed plates before each of them. "There you go, girls! Hay Bacon, Tofu Eggs, and just as a little something extra, some Prench Toast!"

Octavia felt her stomach growl at the sight of the food. Vinyl probably would be more enthusiastic once she was eating. "Oh my, this looks delicious, Pinkamena!"

Pinkie giggled. "Thanks! I had to borrow some bits from Vinyl's room because I didn't have any butter for the toast! I borrowed it from the neighbors and left the bits on their counter!"

Octavia's eyes widened as she processed what her sister had just informed her of. "Wait... you... you just waltzed into somepony's home... unannounced... and took something from them... without asking.....?" She had dearly hoped she had misheard something.

Pinkie nodded. "Yup! They had a thing on the floor in front of their house saying 'Welcome!', so I know it was okay! I mean, what pony would put that unless they wanted other ponies to feel welcome! And I learned from the cafe thing, so I gave them money! Everypony wins!"

Suddenly, reality hit Vinyl, and she shot up from her chair, hooves on the table. "Wait! You gave them my booze money!"

Pinkie nodded. "I didn't know there was different kinds of money, but sure, why not?" She stopped and gulped. "Is booze money as good as regular money?"

Vinyl's jaw fell. "There was... at least twenty bits... and you gave it to them for...."

Pinkie grinned. "One stick of butter!"

Vinyl did not respond immediately. Her brain was too busy piecing together many things, such as how many ponies would notice if Pinkie Pie mysteriously disappeared, and what she would need to hide the body. She was pretty certain she could convince Octavia she just went back home, but fooling the Pie family would be another matter entirely.

Octavia gulped, trying to keep herself calm in spite of the situation. "P-Pinkamena... we're going to eat this breakfast... we're going to enjoy it... and later... you are going to go next door and apologize to the neighbors and explain to them you're from the community outside of town, and that you have no idea that Welcome mats are not a constant reminder that it is okay to walk into the houses of ponies you don't know..."

Pinkie giggled. "Oh, it wasn't the next door neighbors, silly! It's some of the neighbors a little way from here in the bigger houses!"

Octavia felt herself go pale almost instantly as Vinyl growled. "And then you're gonna get my booze money back!"

Pinkie blinked. "What!? Who makes a pony feel welcomed when they don't want them to come into their homes?"

Octavia threw her hooves into the air. "Pinkamena Diane Pie! This is not back home where you can walk into any house so long as you have a reason to believe its okay! This isn't a place where ponies share everything they have without much in demand! This isn't a place where you can just take bits from others ponies' rooms without it being urgent! You're in Ponyville now! Ponies here have a system, a way of doing things far different than you're used to!"

Pinkie shrunk down a bit, ears flat against her head and tears welling in her eyes. Octavia tried - she really did - to stay mad, but the more she looked at her sad sister, the more she felt her stone heart soften.

"Uh... P... Pinkamena... look, it's not so bad... we'll just wait until everypony's awake, we'll talk to the neighbors and get everything sorted out, okay?" Pinkie looked up, a little hope playing into her features; something that made Octavia unable to help but smile. "Its okay sister, it was an honest mistake... mistakes happen..."

"Some mistakes leave others woefully absent of booze..." grumbled Vinyl.

Octavia didn't even look at her as she responded. "And some mistakes leave ponies with children they didn't expect."

Vinyl gasped. "I FORGOT TO TAKE THE PILL LAST NIGHT!" With that, she got up out of her chair and ran into the next room.

Pinkie sniffled a bit. "Pill? What pill? Is Vinyl sick?"

Octavia chuckled. "Nope. Just easy to mess with..."

Soon, Vinyl returned with a triumphant grin on her face. "No foals for me, thank you! Now, about that breakfast..."

Octavia, Pinkie, and Vinyl stood together in front of a door, looking up at the house in front of them. It was larger than their own home, and was a short distance away, set up with some nicer homes than their own little cottage. Pinkie looked to Octavia nervously, who gestured a hoof towards the door. The pink pony then turned her attention to Vinyl, who gave her a scowl that easily said 'where's mah money?' Pinkie gulped and gently knocked a hoof on the door.

There was a few seconds of silence before it gently opened.

Standing before her was a white unicorn mare, whose mane was purple and came down in a single, massive curl fashion. "Oh, hello, can I help you, darlings?"

Octavia nudged Pinkie. "Oh, uh... this morning, I entered your home without permission and took a stick of butter from you..."

At this, the mare seemed to quirk a brow.

"I-I-I wanted you to know that I'm from a little community a little ways from here a-a-and I didn't know this was improper... I hope you c-can forgive me?"

The unicorn hummed. "Well... hold a sec..." With that, she turned around and closed the door. A few seconds later she opened it, her expression more serious. "Did you at least wipe your hooves before you came in!?"

Pinkie blinked and looked down at her hooves. "Was I supposed to?"

Octavia grinned nervously. "Oh, it's okay, she bathed yesterday before she went to bed! Her hooves are no dirtier than the trot from our house to yours would have made them..."

The white-coated mare all but shrieked in response. "What BARBARISM is this!? You not only break into my house, but you do so with dirty hooves!?"

"What's all the commotion there, Rarity?"

The mare looked back into the house. "Nothing papa! Nothing at all, but apparently we're victims of three crimes; breaking and entering, grand theft butter, and improper guest mannerisms!"

The stallion pulled the door open. "Wait, somepony broke into our house?"

Octavia nodded. "My sister, Pinkamena, here came into your house early this morning. She's not from town, and thought your welcome mat was meant to literally welcome her into your home. She borrowed some butter and left a sum of bits as payment."

The stallion scratched his head under his hat, revealing that he wasn't a unicorn himself, rather an Earth pony. "Huh... so that's where all that money came from! I thought maybe the wife had left money lying around by accident!"

Vinyl looked at him pleadingly. "Please return my money to me? I need it to pay very important payments..." Octavia ignored the desire to remind Octavia that alcohol was not a need.

"Well, sure, though I hope ya don't mind if we take out some money for the cost of the butter, do ya?"

Vinyl was ready to say something when Octavia shoved a hoof in her mouth. "No! Not at all, that sounds perfectly reasonable, if you'd be so kind as to not involve the authorities?"

The stallion tapped his chin a few times then smiled. "Well hay, we all make mistakes! I'm sure this young mare won't do it again. Looks honest to me, so I don't see why we can't let this one slide."

"What!? Father, she broke into your house, took food from us, and did so with.... FILTHY hooves!"

The stallion smirked. "Come on now, Rarity, just look at her!" The stallion held his hoof out. Pinkie Pie was giving big, sad puppy dog eyes. "How can ya stare at that face and be angry? It's just so darn sad, doncha know?"

Rarity huffed. "Fine! Fine... just... fine!" She turned and trotted away. "I guess only ONE member of this family has any concern over common decency!"

The stallion chuckled. "Don't mind her. She's just gettin' antsy cause her dress makin' business isn't doin' as well as she'd hoped."

Octavia quirked a brow. "Wait... she makes dresses?"

The stallion nodded. "Oh my yes! Best dresses this side of Equestria! Canterlot quality, too! Thing is, not a lot of ponies know her, and while I do my part to help her get some work, there's only so much a hoofball champ can do to sell dresses! We don't quite connect with the canterlot elite crowd!" He chuckled a bit, shaking his head.

Vinyl gasped. "I knew you looked familiar! You're the hoofball player who retired from playing to become a coach after getting that leg injury!"

The stallion grinned. "Ah, sports fan I see?" He looked down at his leg. "Yeah, I'm still plenty tough, but some torn muscle is pretty hard to come back from, even with surgery. I can walk just fine but I can't run for jack!" He laughed a bit, shaking his head. "Just as well, I was thinking about retiring anyway. Wasn't right to keep endangering myself once my second daughter was born!"

Octavia nodded. "Say... your daughter... would she be willing to take a commission?"

With that, Rarity popped up in the door. "Commission!? For what!?"

Octavia smiled. "I'm trying to gain a seat in the Canterlot Orchestra, and I feel something that might work to my advantage is something to wear that fits their tastes... do you think you could produce such clothing?"

Rarity's expression notably beamed.

"Could I!? Why, I'd be insulted if you asked for anything less!"

Rarity grabbed the grey earth pony and yanked her into the house. "Follow me, we'll get you all sized and measured up! Oh this is going to put my dress making business on the map!"

The stallion blinked. ".... Wow... that was unexpected."

Vinyl nodded. "You're tellin' me..."

It fell silent. The three ponies stood there quietly.

"Well! This is cool and all, but I think Pinkie and I should be getting back home!"

The stallion nodded. "Oh! Sure! Now, y'all don't be strangers, ya hear?"

With that, Vinyl grabbed Pinkie's hoof and ran off, dragging the pink earth pony along for the ride.

"But wait! What about my sister!?"

"Hush! She's in the hooves of a celebrity child, if anything bad happens, we'll hear about it in a few hours!"

Octavia was trotting home, sighing about the way things had worked out. She had stood for an hour, posing and being measured by a mad mare, and had gotten no dress out of it (when she explained she didn't have much money to pay with that sort of put a damper on things) and, to add insult to injury, she knew that right now, Vinyl and Pinkie were somewhere. Alone. Doing who knows what.

"Oh please tell me Vinyl isn't telling Pinkie any of the embarrassing things she knows about me..." said the mare to herself under her breath. "Like... my feeble attempts at flirting when I first tried hard cider... or when I walked in on her a... 'companion' of hers and he invited me to join them.... and she didn't seem to dislike the idea..." She shuddered a bit, but quickly reminded herself she refused that offer, and that that was more something Vinyl would want to keep secret.

Then she remembered that this was Vinyl, and that she doesn't know what shame is. In the end, the only two ponies who'd possibly feel ashamed by that instance we herself and that stallion, assuming said stallion felt any shame himself.

Octavia pushed the door open, immediately greeted by the sounds that she dreaded most. Sounds that, over the past few years, she had grown to despise.

"... Wubs..."

The sounds of bass and treble filled the air as Vinyl Scratch (now in full on DJ PON3 mode) mixed and turned and pushed and twisted the various doodads on her table. Pinkie, meanwhile, was dancing rather clumsily but joyfully to the sounds, trying to dance as she felt the music made fitting; of course, this being Pinkie, her dance was no different than it would have been had she been listening to the Pony Pokey. Just then, Pinkie turned to Octavia and grinned, shouting over the noise.

"Oh hey Octi! Guess what? I love wubs!"

It was in this moment Octavia had realized she was crying. No longer was she with Pinkie and Vinyl; slowly, she was being forced to contend with TWO Vinyl Scratches.

Octavia grabbed the cord to Vinyl's table and yanked it from the wall, stopping all the noise.

"Whoa! Hey! What's the matter with you, Octi!? We was having fun!"

"Stop yelling!"

"What!?"

"I said stop yelling!"

"I can't hear you! I think the music blew my ear drums!"

Octavia groaned and grabbed a nearby chalkboard and a piece of chalk, writing on the green surface. She then holds it up.

'Stop Yelling"

"Oh! Who's yelling!?"

Octavia growled and shook her head, putting the chalkboard down. "Pinkamena, a word?"

Pinkie giggled. "Silly! That's not a bird! It's a chalkboard!"

Octavia simply grabbed Pinkie's hoof and dragged her into the next room. "Pinkamena Diane Pie! I know you like to party, and I'm really glad you and my roommate hit it off so well, but can you please, PLEASE not be so.... so... hectic!?"

Pinkie blinked. "But Octi, I'm just having fun!"

Octavia rubbed her forehead with her hooves. "Pinkie, look, I know you're having fun, but you have to be responsible!"

"But Octi, I'll only get to be so crazy for so long before I have to go back home! And when I do go back home, I'll never get to do this again! All I'll have to look forward to is the rock farm!"

Octavia sighed. "Pinkamena..."

The elder sister pondered in her head what she could respond with. She had a lot of potential responses, but none she felt would matter.

"Look... Pinkamena... just... try to ease up a little, please?"

Pinkie let out a soft, sad sigh of her own, one of relinquishment. "Alright, Octi... if you think I should I will..."

Octavia felt guilt run through her once more and, for not the first time today, let out a sigh. "... Pinkamena... I'm not trying to ruin your fun, I'm trying to protect you...." Octavia sat next to Pinkie and put a hoof over her shoulder. "... There are a lot of rules, a lot of... stigmas in society... and you don't want to have ponies looking at you like they do Vinyl..."

Pinkie tilted her head. "What? Why not? Vinyl seems pretty nice..."

"Well, yes, characteristically, she's a nice pony... at times..." Octavia looked about. "But she's hot-headed, stubborn, promiscuous, and she likes to party and drink..." She gave Pinkie a gentle hug. "I just don't want to see you fall into her bad habits..."

Surprisingly, Pinkamena pushed her away.

"Wait, are you saying you're worried I'll turn into a bad pony?"

Octavia shook her head. "What? No! No, Pinkamena! I'm just worried you'll take some bad habits that will make ponies form poor judgments without getting to know you!"

Pinkie let out a frustrated groan, resting her head on her hooves. "Ugh... Ponyville is such a confusing place! I have so much to learn..."

Octavia smiled a bit. It wasn't quite what she was hoping for, but it was a step in the right direction. "Well, that's alright, Pinkamena. That's why you're here, instead of commuting like I did. We want you to truly know what you're up against and to know what this world is like, so that you'll know if you want to stay out here or go back to the farm..."

Pinkie gasped. "What!? Are you nuts!? I couldn't NOT go back! The farm is my home, what kind of Pie would I be to never return home!?"

Octavia blinked in confusion. "... Surely you didn't think this was just to get all the crazy out of your system so you could be better prepared for life in that place..?"

Pinkie looked around, a mix of confusion and nervousness evident in her expression. "Well.... kinda?"

Octavia groaned a bit, putting her hooves to her temples to massage them. "Of course they would lead you to believe that... that is so like mother and father..." This visibly confused Pinkie. "Pinkamena, did they tell you that you had a choice? That you could stay out here?"

Pinkie shook her head. "No..."

Octavia felt a bit of anger. "Did they tell you that you'd have to come back?"

Pinkie shook her head once more. "No... but they kept talking to me like I would eventually come back..."

Octavia shook her head. "Of course... lying by omission... perfectly innocent in their eyes..." She turned to her sister. "Pinkie, the entire point of this thing is so that ponies can determine if they want to live the life they were born into. This is the point in everypony's life in that community where they decide if they want to stay in the community or if they want to go into the outside world..."

Pinkie seemed to be listening intently. This gave Octavia some hope.

"Sister... this is your life. You're here to find out which way is better for you... life on the rock farm, or life out in Equestria... You're not here to have some fun and then shed it off and go back to your old life. You're here to discover who you are, deep down inside."

Pinkie stared at her hooves. "... B... but they never said that... why wouldn't they tell me? They've never lied to us before..."

Octavia sighed. "Probably because they feared you wouldn't come back if you knew... I imagine they're still rather upset about me..." The elder sister looked aside, her expression becoming sad. "... I still remember how angry father was when I told him I wanted to leave... he hid it beneath his usual calm and politeness, but I could see the disappointment clear in his eyes..."

It fell quiet. Octavia looked to Pinkie once more. "Sister... please do me one more favor?"

Pinkie nodded. "Promise..."

Octavia took her sisters' hoof between her own and looked her in the eyes. "Whatever you do, sister... do NOT... and I repeat... do NOT let our family decide on if you want to stay here or go back... I don't care if you go back because you love them, but don't do it because you think they'd be disappointed if you didn't..."

Pinkie slowly let her view turn to the floor. Octavia hugged her sister once more. "You know what, sister? I think tomorrow, I would like to take you out for a girls' night. We'll have some fun, we'll see some sights, and who knows..." she pulled back and smiled. "Maybe we'll run into some cute colts?"

Pinkie rubbed her eyes, giggling a bit.

"WHOA! YEAH!"

The two ponies ran into the living room, with Vinyl standing triumphantly. "I just got a message from the club! They want me to DJ for them tomorrow night! You girls wanna come with?"

Octavia and Pinkie looked at each other. Octavia smiled a bit and looked to Vinyl. "I think that sounds great, Vinyl." Pinkie grinned a massive grin and almost squealed with joy, but she suppressed herself, lest she make her sister angry with more loud noises.

----------------------------------------------------
TO BE CONTINUED....