Destiny
"Hey, Scootaloo, can you come here a sec?" Scootaloo's ears pricked at her mother's voice, and she looked up from her homework to see Vinyl standing in the hallway, a strange sort of smile on her face. "I need your help with something."
"Sure, mama," the little filly said, jumping down off the sofa and following her mother down the hall and back towards the bedroom in the rear of the house. The young pegasus hesitated for an instant at the threshold of the master bedroom. Strictly speaking, she wasn't really allowed to come in her parents' room, even when they were home, and having Vinyl lead the way still didn't guarantee that she should follow.
The unicorn noticed that her daughter had stopped, and gave the little filly an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, kid, you can come in. I need you to help me with a surprise for Tavi."
"A surprise?" Scootaloo asked, her eyes wide and excited. She trotted across the bedroom floor towards her mother. "What sort of surprise?"
Vinyl grinned broadly. "A huge surprise. An awesome surprise. Tavi's gonna love it, but I need you to help me out."
"Okay, what do you need me to do?" Scootaloo asked, tilting her head to the side as Vinyl extracted a horseshoe box from one of the high shelves in the closet and brought it down to set it on the bed.
"You know how Tavi's in Canterlot this weekend for a concert, right?" Scootaloo nodded. Vinyl smirked. "Well, we're gonna go visit her and surprise her. We're gonna do it in a special way, though, and for that, I need you to do a few things. First, go take a bath and brush your mane. We need to look our best if we're going to be seen in Canterlot, especially if we're going to be with Tavi. Our train leaves in an hour, so get ready to go. I'll explain the rest on the way."
"Okay!" Scootaloo chirrupped, and she bounded out of the room.
~~~
The train ride to Canterlot was not, by itself, very long, although the last third of the trip was largely taken up by the extensive switchbacks up the side of Mount Sleipnir. Even so, Scootaloo had barely managed to contain herself, especially after Vinyl had finished revealing her plans to the little filly. The unicorn sighed heavily in relief when the conductor finally leaned out of the side of the front car of the train and yelled, "Last stop: City of Canterlot!" The train hissed to a stop in a sultry cloud of steam that clung to the edges of the platform and rolled across the polished marble. Vinyl and Scootaloo trotted carefully across the slick surface, their hooves clopping loudly on the unfamiliar terrain. "Alright," Vinyl said, glancing down at her daughter. "Stick close to me, okay? Canterlot's a big city, and I don't want you getting lost."
"I won't get lost!" Scootaloo tossed her mane defiantly. The gesture lost some of its impact as the normally unkempt hair had been carefully brushed and gently styled to give it a smooth shine, lending an unusual intensity to her vibrant magenta locks. "I've been here like five times already with the Crusaders! And with Rainbow Dash!"
"I'm sure you have," Vinyl said. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you run off on your own now. We just found you, kid. I don't want to risk losing you again, alright?"
Scootaloo considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Alright." Together, mother and daughter trotted out into the open air of Canterlot City.
Unlike Manehattan, which was largely skyscrapers and bustling, busy streets, Canterlot may as well have been transported directly from a time centuries or even millennia ago. Every building was a vast, imposing edifice of the most regal bearing, hewn from massive blocks of rare and ancient minerals. Walls of limestone, marble, obsidian and basalt towered over streets paved with immense granite flagstones set so seamlessly together that the cracks between them may as well have been painted on. Every building had the grace and poise of an ancient capital, the design and architecture mimicking the castle that overlooked the city and replete with parapets and towers that once provided the city with defensible points. The train had even passed over a long wooden drawbridge on its way in, rushing under the gleaming metal spikes of a heavy portcullis just beyond the bridge, the lingering vestiges of the impenetrable defenses the city once relied on.
Everywhere inside the city, Scootaloo and Vinyl passed the elite of Equestria, the rich and famous going about their daily lives, unmolested by the populace here in their sanctuary. The two ponies refrained from pointing out the various celebrities as they passed, focused on their goal as they were. The Canterlot Concert Hall was deep in the heart of the city, one of the oldest buildings still standing. As they approached, Vinyl looked down at Scootaloo. "You remember the plan, right?" Scootaloo nodded affirmatively. Vinyl eyed her daughter significantly. "Recite it back to me one more time...just to be sure."
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, but did as she was told. Vinyl nodded and smiled, satisfied. "Awesome. Alright, come on, kid; it's show time." The unicorn grinned broadly...perhaps too broadly.
Scootaloo recognized the expression. She leaned against the older mare's legs, smiling up at her. "Don't worry, mama. It's a good surprise. Mama Tavi will love it."
"Yeah," Vinyl said, not altogether convincingly. "Yeah, I hope so." She took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this."
The pair trotted into the auditorium, stopping at the ticket booth just long enough for Vinyl to explain who she was. The attendant nodded and waved them through. The swelling of an orchestra in the middle of a concert reverberated from behind the closed doors of the main amphitheater, and one of the ushers politely asked them to wait for the current song to end before interrupting. Vinyl nodded, stepping uneasily from one hoof to the other while they waited. Scootaloo sat on the plush red carpet in the hallway, tilting her head from side to side in time with the music. Finally, the music faded and the usher opened the door, waving them through. Vinyl thanked him and led her daughter into the darkness.
Up on stage, Octavia was oblivious to her new audience. The stage lights were as bright as they ever were, their searing gaze completely washing out the world beyond the edge of the boards. For the players in the orchestra, the world began and ended at the curtains to stage left and stage right. The effect was even more pronounced for the cellist, as she was standing out in front of the rest of the orchestra, perched atop a shallow dais. She was on display, the featured instrument for the Vivaldi concerto they were performing. They were one piece away from completing the concert and Octavia, for one, was genuinely dreading the end. She loved Vivaldi, and she maintained that his concertos featured the cello in the most distinguished and beautiful fashion. She cherished every opportunity she got to perform his work; she even felt slightly guilty about being paid to do something she considered a privilege. With a shallow sigh, she nodded at the conductor to her left, indicating she was ready to begin the final movement.
At the first stroke of the midnight blue pony's baton, Octavia felt her heart swell with joy as the music rose up behind and around her. She closed her eyes and counted the time in her head, a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. When the time came for her to join the orchestra, she did so enthusiastically, drawing the bow across the strings of her instrument with purpose. The song was swift and technically challenging, but Octavia didn't even glance at the music as her hooves danced across the strings of her instrument, the song flowing from deep within her as if air from her lungs. She breathed in time to the music, quietly humming the notes as she exhaled, sensing and correcting her pitch by feel, rather than sound. Every passage fed delicately and immaculately into the next, and the earth pony felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as the tantalizing beauty of the concerto washed over her. Too soon, the song was over, and as the last ringing notes faded into the darkness, Octavia slowly opened her eyes to a resounding ovation from the invisible audience.
She smiled. This was another part of her job that she simply loved. It was one thing to create music for herself, to listen and enjoy the sounds of her instrument alone in her studio, but nothing could quite compare to the sublime magic of introducing an entire amphitheater of ponies to the world of truly extraordinary music. At the conductor's prompting, she swung her cello out of the way and bowed low, her silken black mane falling in curtains over her shoulders as she did.
The applause suddenly faltered and then faded, replaced by quiet, curious murmurs of conversation. Puzzled, Octavia looked up from her bent-over pose to see what might be amiss. Something moved in the corner of her eye, and she glanced across the stage to see a tiny orange pegasus trotting eagerly across the polished boards towards her.
Octavia's blood froze. Straightening immediately, she hissed under her breath at her daughter. "Scootaloo! What in Equestria are you doing here? And why are you on stage?"
The filly simply smiled up at her as she reached the dais and climbed up on it. "I wanted to come see you perform, mama," she said, her reedy voice clearly audible in the amphitheater's supremely tuned acoustics.
Octavia blushed as the audience tittered quietly. "Well, as wonderful as it is to see you, sweetheart, you can't be up on stage." She gestured towards the wing with a hoof. "Go back out there and wait for me."
Scootaloo stayed put. "Mama Vy wanted me to come up here and give you something. She said I had to do it on stage, right after the concert was over." The little pegasus extracted a shallow white box from under her wing with her mouth, holding it out for her mother.
Octavia blinked. "She...did?" She raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "Why?" She took the box in her hoof, freeing Scootaloo's mouth to answer her.
"Mmhm," Scootaloo intoned, a wide smile on her face. "Open it."
"Now?" The filly nodded. Still puzzled, Octavia glanced at the conductor with a half apologetic, half confused look. To her surprise, the normally stoic stallion was...smiling? He nodded at her, gesturing towards the box. The sense that she was being set up began to niggle at the back of Octavia's mind, and she looked back down at the parcel in her hooves. Setting her cello carefully on its side, she sat back on her haunches and opened the box.
Her heart stopped.
Inside the box, resting on a white satin pillow was a necklace. It was not ornate or flashy--it probably hadn't even been particularly expensive. Jewelry of this variety rarely was, because the simplicity was part of the message. It had a thin silver chain, and the pendant was a platinum disc with her marefriend's cutie mark set into it in onyx. She knew what she would find on the opposite face. It would be her own cutie mark, likely set in amethyst. She knew this because she knew exactly what she was holding.
Octavia looked back up at her daughter, eyes wide and head spinning. "S...Scootaloo. This...this is..."
"I had to do a little research to figure out what to get." Octavia whirled around to see Vinyl slowly walking across the stage, her face flushed a bright pink color and a sheepish, nervous smile on her face. "Unicorns just do rings, but I figured...earth ponies don't have horns, so they must do something else."
"Vinyl..." Octavia breathed, her throat tight and her mouth dry. The auditorium had fallen silent around her. The audience was now watching intently, keenly aware of what was happening on stage. Octavia was oblivious to it all. Her heart was racing in her ears, and her eyes swam as her marefriend made her way to the dais and climbed up onto it.
The unicorn rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "So...I was gonna write a whole big speech and everything, but then I remembered that I'm not real good with words and stuff, so I figured I'd just...wing it, I guess." She took a deep breath. "Octavia, we've known each other since the conservatory, and from the first day, when you threw a pencil at the back of my head to stop me drumming on my desk so you could hear the teacher, I knew you were something special. You were so beautiful, so intelligent, and so classy...I felt like a troll just standing next to you. I guess that's why I started pestering you in the first place." She smirked. "I was just a little jealous of how...perfect you seemed. I had to find some way to break through, so I just started teasing you. You know, just trying to get under your fur, see what made you tick."
Vinyl pressed on, the tears forming in her eyes starting to track down her cheeks. "And when I finally managed to get through that shell, when I finally found out who you really were, what a sweet, incredible pony you are...I was hooked. I fell in love immediately." The unicorn smirked through her tears. "Of course, it took a while to convince you to give me a chance. I'm really glad you did, though."
Octavia sniffed and gave a watery chuckle, tears running down her face as well. "Me too," she said, her voice wavering. "It was the silliest...and best...decision I ever made."
Vinyl grinned, her foalish demeanor returning even as she cried. "It's been a long time, Tavi. We've been through a lot together, but I've never felt more comfortable, more confident, more...complete than I do when I'm with you. I want it to last forever, Tavi. I want to be by your side from now until we both get old and creaky and you have to scream in my ear to get me to do things because I can't hear anything anymore." Octavia giggled in spite of herself, but the laugh died as her breath caught in her chest when Vinyl took the box from her with a spell, hovering it in front of her muzzle as she bowed low in front of the grey mare, looking up at her through shining crimson eyes wide with anxious anticipation. "Octavia Philharmonica, would you do me the honor of making another silly decision and make me the happiest mare in Equestria?" She lifted the pendant out of the box. "Will you marry me?"
Octavia burst into sobs. Alarmed, Vinyl stood up and said, "Tavi, I...I didn't--" She cut herself off as Octavia threw her forelegs around her marefriend, pulling her into a bonecrushing hug.
"Yes, yes of course I will, you sweet, silly, ridiculous filly!" She buried her face in Vinyl's shoulder, letting tears of joy soak into the other mare's coat as the auditorium erupted in cheers and applause. "Why," she muttered through the unicorn's fur, "did you have to do it here, of all places? I must look such a fool, crying like this up here in front of everypony."
"Nah," Vinyl said, stroking Octavia's mane with a hoof and leaning her head against her mate's. "You don't look foolish, you look happy. And that's the way I like it." She pulled away and grinned down at Octavia. "Besides, I had to ask you in public. I was kinda worried you might say no, and I thought..."
Octavia cuffed her fiancee lightly, scowling at her. "You know perfectly well I would have said yes, Vinyl. We've practically been married already for years." She smiled and kissed the other mare, a tender, romantic embrace. "But I'm so glad to know you want to stay that way forever." She sighed and laid her head against the unicorn's chest. "I love you, Vinyl."
Vinyl smiled and squeezed her fiancee tightly. "I love you, too, Octavia."
"And I love you both!" Scootaloo squeaked as she bounded across the dais and squirmed in between the two mares, her wings buzzing excitedly.
The couple chuckled together and parted slightly to include their daughter, and together the three ponies silently celebrated this new chapter in their strange little family's life.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- errant · 16k words · 891 9 · 9k views
- Terrasora · 113k words · 1,184 14 · 15k views
- Mayhem Darkshadow · 68k words · 917 31 · 21k views
- Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch · 29k words · 779 12 · 10k views
- Terrasora · 23k words · 1,433 16 · 13k views
- Autum Breeze · 26k words · 536 59 · 9.7k views
- Kaldanor · 81k words · 1,502 35 · 16k views
- KnightMysterio · 27k words · 1,537 41 · 23k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
784 users online
905,393 hits today, 2,571,732 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
WOO extra!
That was adorable. This is still one of my favorite Scootadopt fics!
Damnit I just got out of reading Chengar killing off a major character and now you go and do this to me when I was already pretty much crying anyway!
That was worth adding. I love this story!
Yay, extra!
....
A wonderful addition. Thank you for taking the time to write it and share it.
Squee! Awesome! ))D
4958112
Same here.
What? B-but it's completed and there's a sequel and....*reads* Awwww...that *sniffs* that was an amazing addition! I loved the epilogue, but this has it end on even a more emotional and heartfelt moment. A fantastic addition!
Also, you have just shown what is now my official headcannon on marriage in Equestria. The cutie mark necklace, perfect and so sweet!
Aaaawwwwwwwww...........
A-aaaawwwwww.......
*Sniffle* T-that was...beautiful..
This is my favorite statement in Vinyl's proposal speech!
That was so sweet. I love it. I'm tearing up. No, um thanks for such a beautiful ending.
i haven´t read it yet, i wanted to ask which one is first and...is there a sequel? I don´t know why, but i would like to read it more if i know that there would be a new tory to it. Probably because i don´t like it to know if a story ends
4958974 No Longer Lost is the original. The Most Unlikely Places is the sequel, although it's set so far in the future (Scootaloo and the Crusaders are about to finish primary school in the sequel) that it's only really a sequel in that they both happen in the same canon.
4959124 it's a huge, dense, extremely flavorful mushroom cap. They're delicious, especially with a balsamic reduction glaze
4959124 ... I don't remember making that comment.
Well now I'd love to see that story as a prequel. How they met I mean. Regardless, this was great to see. Very heartwarming
4959163
Yeah, she is. I make no apologies for that. Octavia isn't perfect; none of my characters are. Octavia is one of those ponies who wants to do the "right" thing, even if it seems unfair or overbearing. Applejack is similar, as we saw in Somepony to Watch Over Me. She believes she knows what is best for Scootaloo, no matter what the filly would prefer.
I'm not crying. I'm not crying at all.
by far one of the best OctaScratch fics i have ever read (Like My roommate is a vampire)
thanks for your contribution and may Luna smile down upon you
4959067 can't remember where i heard it, it was back before i became a brony, but someone pointed out that one of pinkie's family looks a lot like octi and we all seem to just think of them as cousins now, though some say they're sisters
4959185 Well I found it in the comments section and I replied to it so it must be there.
4959810 Oh, huh. Well then, I feel stupid...
wonderful chapter, honestly wasn't expecting another, though i enjoyed this none the less.
the only downside is it lost that nich it had by ending with the same sentence it started with.
i've only read two fics like that so far, anthropology and this one, but now this one has to be taken off that list.
though it will definitely remain on my favorites list. that is never gonna change, even if we learn scoots isn't an orphan in season 5 by seeing her parents
4960120
I'm sorry it went from 'Divine' to apparently not that
This story's greatest weakness, well hashed, is that it's rushed. It always has been, and given another chance, I'd probably rewrite it into more of an opus like TMUP is, spanning some 150,000 words or so and setting up a lot more believable character interaction. As it is, this was just my second fimfic, and it's super rough. I'm no more pleased about it than you are, I imagine, but it's generally well-liked, so I leave it be.
4959828
I'm pretty sure I knew what a portabella was back then.
4960120 Hopefully this wont devolve into a petty squabbling match between the two of us. I can see where you are pulling your opinions from, but I can also see it from the other side.
The reason Octavia found the back rubs so embarrassing was because of her isolated relationship with her parents she was and I quote, "physically affectionate pony, the result of a relatively aloof relationship with her parents". Another reason is Octavia is a upper society mare; the back rubs from Vinyl made Octavia feel childish, which is a stark contrast to the role she portrays to society. All this aside it also could be explained simply due to the silliness of mammalian sentience.
Your next two points fail to take viewpoint and emotion into equation. This isn't so much an evil stepmother trope on the part of the House Keeper as much as a negative light portrayed through a scared child's eyes. While this stallion has the best intentions, what would you call someone who would take you away from happiness and security, for any reason, but evil?
The next point you make carries this flaw as well, you say the author is breaking the character of Octavia Philharmonica. First off, the character of Octavia is driven entirely by the fan base. We were given an earth pony with a grey coat holding a cello and we as a fan base developed her into the character she is; to say that she is deviating from her "norms" is groundless in it's nature. Regardless, you don't factor in Maternal defensiveness into the Character of Octavia the Author has developed. For all intents and purposes, with the bond Octavia made with scootaloo, Octavia WAS Scootaloo's mother. She was not about to let anyone for any means take away her child.
Thus this brings me to the pinnacle of my argument! We are on the internet reading fan fictions about anatomically impossible, pastel colored equines from a cartoon who's base demographic is female five yearolds . All of us are shoveling logic out the window at this point.
Is that Brony Dance Party's OC on the right of the cover art?
Oh the feels!
Simply fantastic work!
That's all I can really think right now, sorry nothing original here...
it took me 6 hours to read this whole thing....... AND IT WAS WORTH IT I MEAN I CANT STOP GRINNING FROM READING THE REST OF THIS
THIS STORY IS EMOTIONALLY AMAZING
4961180
Apparently. You're the second person to point that out to me. The cover art was done for me by a fan, so I had no personal input on its content.
This was well worth adding to the story, complete or not. Not many things bring me to tears anymore. Thank you for writing one of the few stories that actually managed to do that.
4958212
Definitely. One of the best there is, and it really goes right to the feels.
Love it
4959352 well, until kiro decides to make one, you could always go with University Days. Even though the meeetup is different than what kiro wrote, it still starts with them being mad at each other and ends with them together!
4958676 I've also seen people write it with earrings, bracelets, tail-bands, horn rings, first feathers for pegasi... Either way, I love how kiro did it, very tastefully done.
4962676
>_>... I wooouuld... if I hadn't already read that, lol.
4962698 Well, read it again! Or find some other Vinyl-and-Octavia-are-in-university-and-hate-each-other-but-secretly-love-each-other story! When did this suddenly become my problem?
4962864
It's not, lol. It's entirely mine.
This is just what happens when you go through just about every worthwhile shipping story of a pairing on the site via sifting through every shipping group you can find them in, yet still want to read the pairing more.
4962162 ...where was personality shown in the show? what i miss? and by your idea Ditzy/Derpy can also be related to Pinkie.
Or is this your headcannon?
this is by far one of my favorite Scootaloo stories, it is well written, well thought out, the emotions behind it tug at your heart and make you want to laugh, cry, scream and rage along with the characters. i truly enjoyed this story and I'm glad i took a chance on it, thank you for the opportunity to read your work.
4960179 i would really enjoy a rewrite of this story now don't get me wrong keep this one up and running but you could rewrite it into another story and name it i duno "No Longer Lost (rewrite)". You could keep the first chapter as is and maybe a few chapters after that the same before you start to expand on the story.
Perfect way to end this story
4960179 I would love to read that. This is one of my favorite stories on this site, so more of it would definitely be appreciated.
TOO MUCH D'AWW.
Woot!
I had a really stressful day and this just put a smile on my face. Thanks man I really needed it. Great chapter, looking forward to the next chapter of it's sequel.
Oh cool, one of my favorites updated. No Longer Lost? I thought that story was done, what could this chapter be about? oh little did I know what I was about to read. I didn't expect this chapter, but I can't explain how happy I am it's here, this little epilogue was so sweet I can hardly stand it, thank you so much for adding this it made my day.
I'm dancing on my hooves thanks to the feels of this epilogue. Kudos on getting another chapter in on this.
4998172 You know, you're probably the third person to think this is a FiW reference. It actually isn't. I have never seen the FiW series. My Pinkie has just had a legitimately awful life, obliquely hinted at in one of my other stories. It's strange that it seems to parallel FiW, but it is what it is.