Paths Less Travelled

by Botched Lobotomy

Chapter 9

Lyra Heartstrings looks almost as beautiful as Vinyl did, walking down her aisle. You’re standing next to Vinyl, second row, as she slowly walks toward the front, hoofsteps trailing in her purple suit to match the beats of Bridal Chorus: Remix 2. You, of course, are crying. You’d probably have to hand the crown in if you weren’t. The couple meet, they say their vows, and Vinyl squeezes your leg tight as they seal the marriage with a kiss. You know that she’s remembering another aisle, another mare. So are you, in fact—you always do, but this this time there’s another two: yourself and Vinyl, exhausted, bathed in white, and the realer, rosier palette of you and Shining Armour. Your joy, his smile, the quirk upon his lip like he’s going to burst out any moment...

{Did they get married in real life, do you know?}

{Shouldn’t you know?}

{I can’t keep track of every marriage. Mostly just the troubled ones, in fact.}

{That’s...a little sad. No, they never got together. I’m not even sure who Bon Bon is.}

{I am. She owns a sweet shop in Canterlot I take Flurry Heart to sometimes. Or—I used to.}

{So it’s our fault, then.}

{Maybe.}

{We messed destiny up pretty bad, huh.}

{So it would seem...}

{You don’t sound all that convinced.}

{Everypony has a destiny. It’s our job, us alicorns, to help them understand it.}

{Hah! No offence, but—}

{Why do I get the feeling you’re about to say something really offensive right now?}

{Hey, hey! No need to jump down my throat! I was just gonna say that, uh, that sounds really nice and helpful of you.}

{Of course.}

{Of course.}

{I haven’t done a very good job, have I?}

{I mean, I wasn’t gonna say it...}

{Thanks, Vinyl. I’m so glad I can count on you to back me up when I’m questioning the purpose of my whole entire life.}

{No problem, anytime.}

Reception, drinking, dancing. Chattering to countless friends and friends of friends and their friends about what a beautiful occasion, and...that’s all they want to talk to you about, really. Wedding, Princess of Love, idyllic. Vinyl, over there, chatting away about some drumkit or other, and you exchanging pleasantries about the colours of the ribbons. It isn’t bad, you don’t hate it, but it isn’t you. It’s a relief when music starts, and you excuse yourself, and go up to ask the prettiest mare in the room to dance.

{You’re a surprisingly good dancer.}

{Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?}

You rest your head against the hollow of her neck, breathe in her smell, her love and warmth.

{What if it’s all been a lie?}

{Huwha?}

{Everything I’ve done. The ponies I’ve nudged together, if I got something as big as this wrong, who am I to tell them what to do?}

{Nopony. Though that’s probably just the anarchist in me.}

{I didn’t take you for a revolutionary.}

{I’m a DJ. Every DJ likes to pretend they’re a little revolutionary.}

{I’ll keep that in mind, and advise Princess Twilight to do the same.}

{You’re so funny.}

{You think I’m joking.}

{Be quiet and enjoy the dance, Princess.}

And three turns later, Vinyl’s daring grin, her dip, her hooves...

{You’re happy with your husband.}

{Yes.}

{Is what you have with him a lie?}

{A...what? No, of course not.}

{There you go, then.}

{There I go, what?}

{If you got yourself and Shining Armour wrong, and you’re happy, and you’re still together, what’s it matter? For that matter, even if you weren’t still a couple, I don’t think you’d stand here saying that it wasn’t worth it. So if you think that even if you got it wrong, you wouldn’t change it, why call other ponies’ choices lies?}

{Because I made them.}

{You didn’t make them. You at most, what, pushed them? Suggested them? Who cares. Ponies make their own decisions, it’s, like, our favourite thing to do. Maybe everypony has a destined love, maybe some of them work out and some of them don’t. You might have chosen, chosen wrong, but they chose too, and unless they're saying yes, you’re right, absolutely, get this stallion out of here, then I don’t think you get to feel guilty about it at all. And you certainly don’t get to say that love’s a lie.}

{Stop being so wise.}

{I once opened a bottle with my eyelid.}

{Wisdom oft comes from the mouths of babes.}

{I’m gonna tell your husband you called me a babe.}

{I take it back completely.}

{Much obliged.}

{...Thank you for understanding.}

Comments

[Bicyclette]

You, of course, are crying. You’d probably have to hand the crown in if you weren’t.

hehehe (i guess in this timeline, Cadance is the wedding crier in her relationship, which makes sense)

{That’s...a little sad. No, they never got together. I’m not even sure who Bon Bon is.}

{I am. She owns a sweet shop in Canterlot I take Flurry Heart to sometimes. Or—I used to.}

{So it’s our fault, then.}

{Maybe.}

{We messed destiny up pretty bad, huh.}

yeah a universe where LyraBon doesn't happen... messed up, indeed!

{Hah! No offence, but—}

{Why do I get the feeling you’re about to say something really offensive right now?}

because that is how "no offence, but" is traditionally followed by ofc

{What if it’s all been a lie?}

{Huwha?}

{Everything I’ve done. The ponies I’ve nudged together, if I got something as big as this wrong, who am I to tell them what to do?}

{Nopony. Though that’s probably just the anarchist in me.}

{I didn’t take you for a revolutionary.}

{I’m a DJ. Every DJ likes to pretend they’re a little revolutionary.}

hehehe yeah, hard to imagine Vinyl being any other way than this!

{I’ll keep that in mind, and advise Princess Twilight to do the same.}

{You’re so funny.}

{You think I’m joking.}

i just love this ship. something about Cadance as the Princess here feels extra-right

{If you got yourself and Shining Armour wrong, and you’re happy, and you’re still together, what’s it matter? For that matter, even if you weren’t still a couple, I don’t think you’d stand here saying that it wasn’t worth it. So if you think that even if you got it wrong, you wouldn’t change it, why call other ponies’ choices lies?}

{Because I made them.}

{You didn’t make them. You at most, what, pushed them? Suggested them? Who cares. Ponies make their own decisions, it’s, like, our favourite thing to do.

and it's interesting that at the beginning of the story, Cadance claimed to have this very perspective, and it's only after the foundations are shaken that she shakes off that anodyne cast

{Stop being so wise.}

{I once opened a bottle with my eyelid.}

hehehe love this Vinyl