On The Rocks

by 8_Bit

Epilogue

Dear Diary,

At the time of writing, it has been a little over eight months since we were in Trottingham. At present, Vinyl and I are visiting her parents in Manehatten for a couple of weeks, a little getaway ahead of my birthday in a few days. They have the most delightful loft just a few blocks away from the Manehatten Park, something we have made good use of for morning walks. We are deep into the the threshes of autumn, and winter is imminent, so the weather most days is brisk and frosty. But there is an excellent selection of coffee shops and cafes within walking distance, so we make do quite well. On the clearest of days, you can just about see the tops of the buildings in the West Manehatten University campus, just off in the distance from our bedroom window. It is nice, being back here, a stone's throw away from where we first met. Like things have come full circle.

Those first few weeks after we got home from Trottingham were... awful. Just awful. In fact I had to fend off a great many dark thoughts and contemplations... but having Vinyl by my side? Sincerely, that made all the difference in keeping me from slipping off the deep end. After the end of the second week, I was surprised to find that Vinyl went to answer a knock at the door, and her parents were there. Her father Quill is a therapist, as it turns out. You know, come to think of it, I had many a chance to inquire about his occupation over the several times we had visited them before, but I never thought to. It turned into a happy little surprise for me, one that Vinyl's parents had arranged with her. I daresay Quill Scratch was rather instrumental in my psychological recovery.

I shall not go into too much depth about my one-on-one discussions with him, as that would be improper. However I can say that over the course of the next few months, Arpa and Quill would visit every other weekend, so Quill and I could spend a few hours doing more private sessions. He refused to charge me a single bit for these. He paid out of his own pocket for trains to and from Manehatten, twice a month, taking up time and energy he could have put towards paying clients. And he did it for free. I rather adore him for that. In fact, he was the one who went out today and purchased this diary for me. He said he thinks I am at a good point of recovery to start putting things down on paper, good and bad. Apparently it is a method that has helped him in difficult times before, and he says that since he sees a lot of himself in me, he hopes it will help me heal in the same ways it helped him heal. It is nice to have a father figure in my life.

So, what else has transpired in the time I have spent healing? Well, blank pages, allow me to transcribe some events into you. Some of it is not especially wonderful, but it does get better.

Mother writes to me occasionally. She was the one who arranged for my trunk to be sent back to Ponyville. It seems she is torn between her duties as a wife, and as a mother. A slight disadvantage to the very traditional upbringing she had, is she was raised to be utterly loyal to her husband, no matter how much she disagrees with him. I can not say I entirely hold her to blame for this, but my energy to direct towards sympathy for her is rather limited. Still, she makes the effort to check in on me, and even asks after Vinyl despite the altercations. It is hardly an ideal situation, but maybe with time, things will improve. She always supported my transition in spite of my father, so I feel I can proceed with cautious optimism.

But Father though, he sent a single letter. Well, only one as far as I am aware. And he did not even write it himself, it was addressed 'from the office of Staccato Melody', which to my best guess means it was penned by his secretary. I did not read it. It went straight in the bin. If he wishes to initiate conversation, he can do it by his own hoof. Since then I have requested that Vinyl check the mail before I read it, and if any similarly formatted letters arrive from Father, that she ensure they also end up in the bin so I do not have to see them. Bless her heart, she seemed hesitant at first. She said she did not wish to put herself in a position where she might appear to be controlling of what information I receive from home, and that she would not forgive herself if she came between me and Father if he was trying to make amends, in his own twisted ways. She still feels guilty about striking him, and how everything snowballed from there. I personally am honoured to have somepony in my life who would stand up for me so defiantly. And eventually she agreed to be my postal-intercepting-mare-on-duty, following the very simple request: when Father finally sends something by his own hoof, allow me to see it. Nothing yet, but the ball is in his court on that now.

Life at home now is actually better than it ever was. After a few weeks of therapy, Vinyl's father had tentatively suggested that I come out to my local friends, merely as a possible option to start building a local support network. It had been quite plainly that: a suggestion. He made it under the strict understanding that it was entirely up to me, and he would understand if I felt uncomfortable about it, given the intolerance I had grown up around. But he knew about our friends Lyra and Bon-Bon also being a couple, and reasoned that being LGBT themselves, they would probably be a safe place to start. He was entirely correct, even if it took me a few more weeks to gather up the courage. I told them, with Vinyl at my side the whole time. They were elated that I had made such a commitment to my own happiness despite the bigotry that had surrounded me in my youth, and they made it quite plainly clear that not only did it not change how they saw me, but they were also honoured that I trusted them enough to tell them.

And... things just escalated from there. One-by-one, I told more and more friends about who I really was, and every single one of them was nothing but supportive. One of them even told me that they had another friend who had transitioned. It turns out, a member of the local weather team named Thunderlane is trans-masculine. He had been assigned female at birth, and had transitioned in his teens as well! We got together for drinks, one thing led to another, and now the two of us hold a support group at the town hall once a month. It turns out quite a few ponies in this town also identify somewhere under the transgender umbrella, which is a marvellous thing for a small community. They are all incredibly grateful to me and Thunderlane for running the group, and Vinyl tells me every time I get home from a session how proud she is of me.

Then things took another turn for the downright amazing. Walking though town one day, some younger ponies stopped me to see if they could ask me some questions. One of them, a young unicorn colt named Snails, opened up to me over some feelings he had been having. We had a bit of a back and forth, I answered some questions from him and asked him some of my own. In the end, I put forward to him what had been suggested to me when I was younger than him: maybe he is not really a colt, maybe he is actually a she, and that she is really a filly. And... she seemed so happy to have an adult pony suggest it to her. Since we had that conversation, she has spoken to her parents about her feelings, and they have reached out to local services to enquire about how to proceed with her transitioning. Glitter Shell, that is the name she goes by now. She is such a sweetheart, and I wish her all the best in the world.

And then there was Scootaloo. A young pegasus filly, one of those darling Cutie Mark Crusaders. I must say, I was caught somewhat off-guard by some of her questions, and some of her responses to my own questions. It took a bit longer for me to figure her out, as I should elaborate that her perspective was not quite lining up with my own experiences. But in the end, I realised what she was saying. She did not feel like a filly, but she did not feel like a colt either. I realised, she was really a they. I explained, as best I could, what non-binary meant. Well, to say their face lit up would be an understatement. It is not something I was especially familiar with, but I promised them I would accompany them to Princess Twilight's library... oh wait, that was blown up by Tirek. Ahem. I promised them I would accompany them to the newly built library to help them with research into what entails being non-binary. Long story short, they are out, open to all their friends, and happy.

Though we are fairly late into this year now, Thunderlane and I have had several meetings with Mayor Mare. Until recently, Pride Month in Ponyville has been a rather subdued affair, but the recent outpouring of other ponies expressing their love and commitment to who they are has been something that has warmed the mayor's heart greatly. Next summer, she would like for us to head the organising of Ponyville's very first Pride Parade. She hopes it will become an event that everypony enjoys year after year, and that the whole town can be united in love. I agreed, on one condition: that the procession begins on Melody Boulevard.

The most marvellous of events though, that transpired the very evening I write this. We had a clear, cloudless day today in Manehatten. Vinyl and I spent the afternoon having a picnic in the park, watching the little boats sail around on the lake, and indulging ourselves in each other's company. Being so late in the year, we spent much of it huddled together for warmth, but it was a very pleasant day. As afternoon waned into evening, we left the park, returning to the loft apartment. I had a hot shower to warm up, and was about ready to don some fluffy pyjamas and curl up on the sofa, but then Vinyl suggested we go up onto the rooftop terrace and watch the sunset. I was skeptical, but she insisted.

She brought her boombox up, as she said she wanted me to hear a song she had been working on. ‘Little Diamonds’, she has titled it. It is unlike any other music she has ever written. It is a slow ballad with a wonderful orchestral accompaniment, and her lyrics are heartfelt and profound. She is actually singing on the track, you know? She lip synced along to it as she played it for me, but on the recording itself, she is the one performing the vocals. I told her she should sing more often. She has a beautiful voice.

It was a gorgeous evening, the verdant canopy of the Manehatten Park clawing upwards towards the brilliant orange that filled the entire sky as the sun slowly began to dip towards the horizon. Twin plumes of steam rose from Vinyl and I with every exhale in the cold weather, but that only seemed to add to the ambience. Not many ponies can truly appreciate the hidden beauty nestled in the mundanities of the world around them, but with the music playing in the background, it made for a spectacular sight.

And... Vinyl wasn't watching the horizon. In my periphery, I saw that she was only watching me. So I turned to face her. She reached up with her hoof and removed her glasses, and in a display of vulnerability she rarely shows, she locked eyes with me. And we held our gaze, our noses practically touching. It was frighteningly intimate, but not in a particularly lewd way. Her carmine irises radiated intensity like I have never known before. The faintest smile tugged at the corner of her lips. My heart was pounding relentlessly, and her exhales tickled at my nostrils. Her cheeks were flushed red in the bitter cold, and mine felt like they were doing the same. Though I do not entirely hold the low temperature accountable for that. Here she was, showing me the most beautiful skyline I have seen in many years, and the only thing she had eyes for was me.

So when her question came, I was moved, I was astounded, heck I was downright ready to burst into tears. But I was not entirely surprised. You see, many of her fans would die to know her better. To know the mare behind the sunglasses. To even spend just a few minutes in her presence, and glean from her the secrets of her music. Vinyl Scratch is an enigma to many, but nopony knows her better than me. So I knew what she was about to say, when she bent ever so slightly down, and asked me to marry her.

And there was nothing else I could say but 'yes'.

With hopes for a wonderful tomorrow,

Octavia

---

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading. It's an understatement to say this story was a long time coming.

To clarify on why this took so long: it was finished and ready to upload, years ago. Right up until the evening before I intended to post it, when the laptop I had at the time died. And the completed story was gone. And when you've sunk a lot of work into something to have it totally wiped clean... well starting from scratch can be tough. And I never managed to bring myself to do it.

Until a few weeks ago, where I need to give a specific thank you to Scribbler and TheLostNarrator who, nearly ten years after I wrote the first story, performed a dramatic reading of it that finally gave me the motivation to bring back my old words and finish off the final chapter in this bittersweet tale.

So thank you both, for giving me that inspiration.

~ 8_Bit
<3

P.S. Vinyl's song for Octavia would sound somewhat like this, 'Little Diamonds' by Patent Pending. Except with a slightly slower, more orchestral backing track and, obviously, Vinyl singing.

Comments

[Real Solaris]

This was fucking adorable, and I loved every damn second of it.

[Daemonabacus]

This was a wonderful story, I'm very happy you decided to finish it despite the loss of the original.

[FlutteringLillies]

That was amazing ;; I’m even more happy for Scribbler’s and Lost’s narration because it means we got this beautiful, beautiful follow up. Really stories like this, that show acceptance and hope for my community, mean the world to me. So thank you.

[PoisonClaw]

So happy to see this series of stories get a proper ending after so long. You did an amazing job, well done.

[Geeknerd]

Sweet ending.

[JayMission]

Delightful conclusion to a great trilogy of stories! The voices you gave Vinyl and Octavia as narrators were excellent throughout.

[Luna Lightblade]

Oh my gosh! So floored to get an ending to this trilogy

[TearingNose24]

I'm gonna rip his fuckin head off!, was the only thing I could think during every mention of octavia's father.

[TheLonelyDraconequus]

Simply amazing. That's all there is to say, really.