Two years had passed since Vinyl began studying in Canterlot High; throughout his two years, he had spent most of his time hanging out with Shining Armor and Cadance.
He enjoyed their company; the three of them would often go everywhere together—water parks, theme parks and the occasional museum tours which Vinyl detested but tagged along anyway. They were the only ponies Vinyl really trusted. Not that he didn’t trust others, but that he was afraid he might hurt them when he would leave Canterlot High, and the city eventually.
”Vinyl, my son, even though I don’t like your decision, as a father, I will support you. You’re my son after all, even if it means doing something different.”
“Does that mean I get to study there?”
“Only if you promise to come back after school ends.”
“Oh, thank you, daddy!”
“Yes, I know. I’m the best. But be warned. Not everyone will accept you for who you are.”
“Yeah, I know that. I’ll try to keep a low profile. No one will ever figure it out.”
“Good. Now I hope you won’t come back and tell me that you regretted leaving home to chase this dream of yours.”
“I won’t.”
Now that Vinyl was on his last year of high school, the euphoric thoughts he first started school with now turned into feelings of dread. Each day, Vinyl would silently tick off his remaining days, hoping when the counter hits zero, he wouldn’t be too bummed about it.
He knew he was just fooling himself: how could he not be upset about it? He had spent the last three memorable years with two of his closest friends. With time ticking by, he could only run along with it as it threatened to break the bonds they shared. Breaking the bonds between him and his only friends.
There was Soarin’ too, but Vinyl didn’t pay much attention to him. On the contrary, Soarin’ started acting friendly towards him. He would offer to do Vinyl’s homework if he forgot about it. Occasionally, he will also walk him to his next class. He thought Soarin’ was just making up for being mean in the past, until he remembered he was in a female body. There was always the possibility of Soarin’ having a crush on Vinyl, but he shook that notion off. Not until a few weeks before school ended.
“Will you go to prom with me?”
- - - Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ - - -
“What?!” Vinyl’s words bounced off the walls of the stairwell. Mouth agape, he stared at Soarin’ who was kneeling on one knee.
“You. Me. Prom. How about that?” Vinyl just couldn’t believe what he is hearing. The pony that had threatened to give him ‘detention’ was asking him to prom?
“What? Hell no.” He stuck his hoof out and tapped his forehead. Gently, he pushed the kneeling Soarin’ away. He too, walked out of the stairwell and into the corridors of the first floor.
“B-but…” That was all Vinyl heard as he turned a corner and disappeared from Soarin’s sight. He sighed in relief as he made his way down the corridor. Spotting Cadance making her way to the cafeteria, Vinyl made a small run towards her and wrapped a hoof around her.
“Yo, Cay-Dannnce! Guess what?” Vinyl grinned.
“Let me guess.” Cadance rolled her eyes. “You managed to destroy Mr Z’s subwoofers again.”
“Nope. That’s gonna be tomorrow during the music presentation. But yeah, Soarin’ just asked me to prom.”
Cadance faced Vinyl with her eyes bulged out and her mouth agape. Her eyebrows were knitted as if she was really shocked and surprised. More shock than surprise actually.
“What,” deadpanned Cadance, not believing Vinyl.
“He was all on one knee and stuff, and then he asked me. Told him no before pushing him to the floor. Gently.” Vinyl barrelled in laughter. “Can you believe it? He wants me to go with him. Me.”
“Well, there’s really nothing wrong with that. I heard he had a crush on you since you first came.”
“What.” Now it was Vinyl’s turn to not believe Cadance.
“Something about you being able to stand up to him like that. He liked that.” Cadance nodded as if she approved of Vinyl’s bravado.
“What.” The still shocked Vinyl almost bummed into another pony, sidestepping last minute to avoid collision. “Sorry!” Vinyl called out.
“Yeah. You’re the first mare I’ve ever heard of being so tough too. I’d ask you if I was a stallion.” Both mares chuckled nervously. Vinyl seriously wanted that to happen as much as Cadance was serious about asking him out. Of course, that was never going to happen. The only thing Vinyl could do was dream.
As the pair entered the cafeteria, they spotted a seat not too far from them and proceeded to sit there. As they sat down, they levitated their lunch bag out of their backpack, opened it up, and munched on the goodies inside. Cadance had a daffodil sandwich, while Vinyl had baked bread with tomato, cheese, peppers and celery.
“Sooo, who are you going to prom with?” asked Vinyl.
“Uh, I don’t know yet.” Cadance took a bite of her sandwich.
“Wait. Who do you wanna go with? Big Mac? Blueblood? Some other pony I don’t know about?”
“Well, you do know this pony actually. You know him quite well.” Vinyl rolled her eyes. By saying that, he knew Cadance was just stalling the inevitable question. Vinyl decided just to go ahead and ask.
“Let me guess. You like him, don’t you.”
“Maybe.” Cadance placed her sandwich down and stared at Vinyl. “But it’s… complicated. Maybe he…” As the pair stared at each other, Vinyl noticed how her wrinkles would form on her forehead, her cheeks would redden and her speech would slow down considerably when she was nervous. He noticed how her hooves would tap against the table, and her eyes would shift left before looking down, then right and down. He saw how she kept scratching her mane with her hooves, only to fix it shortly after. He saw all of that, and thought she was beautiful.
This mare’s amazing, but I can’t do anything about it.
Vinyl’s heartbeat raced as he listened to Cadance rant on why she can't tell him about it. The more he listened to Cadance praise this stallion, the more he couldn’t help but wish he wasn’t stuck in this female body. As a changeling, he was supposed to be able to change to other ponies. However, he was born with a defect that only allowed him to copy one pony, and he was stuck with this white mare with blue hair. It was complicated at times, keeping his façade as a pony rather than a changeling, and a mare rather than a stallion. The former he got used to. The latter he wasn’t.
If… if I show her my true self, I think she’ll accept me. I think. After all, we’ve been through three years together. She trusts me. And I do too.
But what if she doesn’t? What if she sees me as a monster of some sort? What if this friendship of ours will abruptly end if she finds out who I am inside?
“… and that’s why I can’t ask him out.” Vinyl snapped back into reality and sighed.
“Well, who is this pony?”
- - - Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ - - -
The school bell rang for the sixth time, marking the end of school for the day. Some eagerly rushed out of their classrooms and bolted out of the school doors. Some chose to stay behind to mingle and chat with their friends. And some headed towards the library to study.
“Don’t forget to buy your prom tickets!” The PA system blared above the laughter and chatter of ponies. Vinyl was the kind of pony who would stay behind to chat. He searched around for his two friends, but only spotted one Shining Armor nervously strutting off in his direction.
“Hey, Shining—woah!” Shining Armor pushed Vinyl towards the stairwell behind them and pinned him against the wall. His eyes danced like wildfire and his hooves shook.
“What the hell?” Vinyl asked as he tried to back away from him.
Please don’t tell me he’s gonna ask me to prom, or force himself on me.
“… prom… don’t know… likes me…I do, Vinyl?”
“What?! Slow down! I barely understood a word you said.”
Shining Armor inhaled deeply, then exhaled before releasing his grasp on Vinyl. “I wanna ask Cadance to prom but I don’t know if she likes me the way I do. What should I do, Vinyl?”
“Oh?” Vinyl sighed in relief. “And I thought you were going to kiss me or something.”
“Ew. No. That’s nasty, bro. You’re my bro, making that incest.” Shining Armor shook his head. “Besides, Cadance is the mare for meeee,” said Shining Armor in a sing-songy voice. “But yeah. I need help.”
“Cadance, huh.” Vinyl breathed in and out and scratched his mane.
Cadance? Sigh. I should have seen this coming. I shouldn’t have fallen in love with a mare I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have become best friends with the mare I loved. And now, I can’t do anything but watch her get whisked away by my other best friend.
Vinyl held back his tears as much as he could. He coughed twice, and said, “Y-yeah. You should totally do it.”
“But, I’m scared. I don’t know what she’ll say if I ask her. You’re a mare, Vinyl. Tell me how she will react when I ask her to prom.” Shining Armor grabbed onto Vinyl again, which made him flinch. Vinyl thought back to when Soarin’ tried to ask him to prom and shuddered further.
“Well, I know she’ll be flattered. And she’ll probably say yes. You’re funny, cool, awesome, and she’s beautiful, pretty, amazing, lovely. Her eyes blink twice whenever she tries to lies and she dots her ‘I’s with hearts. She love hugs and will give you a good hug whenever she can. She smells nice of lavender every day and her voice is as beautiful as an angelic choir.”
“Precisely! So, does that mean I stand a chance?” Shining Armor raised his volume a little louder.
“Mhmm.”
“I’m gonna find her and ask her right now. Thanks, Vinyl! You’re the best!” Shining Armor hugged Vinyl before heading off. Vinyl watched as Shining Armor blended into the crowd. Slumping back against the wall, he slid down and sat on the cold, hard floor.
“B-but… I like Cadance,” muttered Vinyl under his breath. “I like her a lot.” Tears formed on the edges of his eyes. He sat still as sounds of laughter filled his head. He was familiar with that sound. It made him happy, especially when he hung out with his two best friends.
He sobbed quietly as ponies passed by. Some of them stared at him shortly before moving on, and some just ignored him. I should be happy for them, right? But why do I feel so devastated?
After a while, Vinyl opened his eyes and saw Shining Armor and Cadance in the distance. They had their hooves wrapped around each other and they were trotting happily away from him. And if they’re happy, I should be happy, right?”
He heard an all-too familiar laughter; Soarin’ was chuckling in a corner with Spitfire and Cloud Kicker. And if even he can be happy, I can be, right?
Vinyl sighed and stood up. He looked through the glass windows on the right of him and saw that the sun was setting. I should wash up. I’ve been in this state for far too long. Scratching his eyes, Vinyl yawned and headed towards the washroom. As he pushed open the door, the sun cast a shadow of him onto the wall in front of him. And the shadow faded as he closed it.
- - - Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ - - -
“Ugghhh…” Vinyl sniffled as he splashed some cold water onto his face. He then wiped it off and stared at the pony on the other side of the mirror directly above the taps.
Why did I just tell Shining Armor that he should do it? Stupid me. Blueghhh. Vinyl splashed more water onto his face.
I should have seen it coming. I really should have. I’m a changeling, and she’s a pony. She’s never going to accept me. He stared into the eyes of his reflection and watched it slowly turn from red to green.
Will she ever?
Damn it, I’m feeling so bloody pathetic now. Look at myself. I’m so horribly insecure. Urgh. Vinyl splashed more water onto his face. He looked up, and noticed his white horn started fading into black. His head was next to change and fangs started sprouting out. He looked at his two hooves. True enough, they were his changeling hooves—grey with holes in them. Before he knew it, his wings sprouted and his tail shortened.
He backed away from the mirror, and saw the reflection of his entire body. His real body. He stretched his hooves out and looked at them. This is me. He stared out of the window. It wasn’t long before he had to return, and he hated it. He really loved it here. Loved the school. Loved his friends. Loved Cadance.
"The ponies there are going to treat you like an outcast!"
"No, they won't!"
"Yes, they will. The moment you reveal yourself, everyone will leave you. Your friends, your teachers. Everyone will despise you. Why? Because we are all breeds of parasites. We feed off them. They do not wants us."
"Not everyone is like that, mom!"
"They will kick you to the curb and before you know it, you'll be alone. And you'll come back.
"Stop! That's not true... that's not true!"
"You'll behave so differently than them that you won't be able to relate to them."
"Stop it!"
In a fit of rage, Vinyl clenched his fist and aimed it at the changeling in the mirror. The changeling didn't disappear; however, the mirror did break. Vinyl growled at it. "If I'm hated so much, then why do I have friends? Tell me!"
His horn lit up and he got ready to fire a beam of magic at it. However, his sensitive changeling ears picked up sounds of laughter from outside the bathroom, as well as the words ‘let me use the washroom first’. It grew louder as Vinyl stood there stunned, fully aware of what was going to happen: a pony or ponies were going to empty their bladders. They would come in and notice him in his changeling form. And they would freak out.
Vinyl freaked out; he attempted changing back, but his body refused to cooperate. No matter how hard he tried, he stared at the changeling in the broken mirror.
Disguising himself like always was an option thrown out of the window. He only had two seconds to get out of there. Hiding was probable but not possible. The cubicles with the doors were on the other side of the bathroom and the shower cubicles were even further away from him. He glanced outside the window, and knew it was his last resort. He just prayed the ponies lingering at the front of the school wouldn’t spot a grey being fly out of the school. Or at least if they saw, they saw a grey pegasus and not some monster flying.
The door swung open, and Vinyl took off.