Vinyl Scratch set down the paintbrush she'd been levitating with her magic and admired her hard work. The walls of the once drab brown spare room were now painted a pleasant cream and all they had to left to do was wait for it to dry. Then they could place on the wallpaper, depicting suns and stars, and hang up the pictures of beaches that they'd picked out. The room was slowly transforming from a boring study to a room fit for a child - which was exactly what they wanted.
Octavia walked into the room, carefully avoiding brushing her coat against the wet walls. At seven months pregnant her belly was already rounded significantly and you could tell by the way she was walking, placing her hooves carefully so she wouldn't fall and adjusting her stance to support her larger size.
She smiled at the room. With the large bay window letting it glorious sunlight and a great view over Manehatten, the room was perfect for any child. She looked down at her stomach and felt a growing anticipation of what would happen in four months’ time.
They would be mothers. Her and Vinyl, in charge of a new-born foal - it was almost too wild to even think about.
Yet she wouldn't have it any other way.
Vinyl smiled at her wife and made her way over towards Octavia, entwining their tails.
"How are things?" Vinyl asked, leading Octavia out of the room and into their own bedroom, where the walls were considerably drier.
"I'm fine. A little kick now and then, but nothing out of the ordinary. Our son's set to be a real dancer," Octavia joked.
"He'll be busting out moves just like his moms in no time." Vinyl sighed, lowering herself onto the soft sheets of the double bed. Octavia lay down beside her, shifting about until her weight was balanced.
Vinyl smiled and lowered her ear to Octavia's stomach, listening to any tell-tale signs of activity. But there was silence.
Octavia giggled. "Even now he won't do what you want. Watch out, Vinyl Scratch!"
Vinyl chuckled and then there was peace, just the three of them.
"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that in four months, there's going to be a third pony in this apartment. Isn't it strange?" She turned her head to look at Vinyl. "It seems like only yesterday we were young and reckless - or at least you were."
"You were always the good mare, Tavi," Vinyl said. Then a thought struck her, and her heart sunk inside her chest.
"I was always so stupid," she murmured, "making decisions before thinking them through, doing silly things because I thought I looked cool. I was never smart like you - you always knew when to slow down, and when I should slow down too."
"Vinyl -" Octavia tried to console her.
"What if I'm not ready, Tavi? It wasn't that long ago that I was doing body shots in bars. I'm a bad influence. I'm not good at knowing what the right thing to do is and what the funny thing to do is." Vinyl threw her hooves up into the air. Vinyl had always been a bit over-dramatic, but when Octavia looked into her eyes, she knew that Vinyl was deadly serious.
She took Vinyl's hoof in her own. "Look, Vinyl, I know we're not exactly the most prepared, and we might not be the most knowledgeable. But over time, mistakes happen. That's just life. It's like a quiz. If you get a question wrong you try again. We do stupid things sometimes but we learn from them and that makes us the better pony," Octavia said.
Vinyl nodded, though her gaze was troubled. "But still, I'm not the best pony in the world at committing. You know that. I'm never gonna be good at long-term things. I'll be fine one minute and freak out the next," she said glumly.
Octavia smiled. "Vinyl, things may never go the way you plan them. But that's okay, because sometimes it's better, right? Just look at the pair of us! You never thought in a million years we'd end up here, living together and expecting our first son. Sometimes, life just throws things at you and you just have to go with the flow. Relax. Have fun. And maybe make a few mistakes. But we're all ponies, right?"
Vinyl grinned and kissed her. "I never really did see a future with you. I never really saw a future at all. I just thought if I kept on living with no day but today I could stagger onward. Maybe I should adopt that lifestyle again."
Octavia grinned happily. "There's the Vinyl Scratch I know," she whispered, and kissed Vinyl again, "and love. Just keep on being the carefree pony you are and everything will be fine."
Vinyl smiled. "Hey, what happened to the Octavia I know? The one who's always nagging at me to do something and the one who's always telling me to think and plan things through? Is she in there somewhere?"
Octavia laughed, a sound that Vinyl Scratch could never get enough of, not even after all these years. Knowing that Octavia was laughing and happy was enough to brighten up her day no matter what was going on.
Octavia sighed and then yawned, having previously not realized how tired she was. It was only about four in the afternoon, but the winter sun was setting quickly and she realized she'd been lying there with Vinyl for almost half an hour.
"Vinyl," she muttered, feeling her mind rapidly going to sleep, "tired."
Vinyl laughed at her sluggish marefriend and got up from the bed gently, tucking the covers over Octavia. She kissed her on the forehead, laughing quietly at the fact that Octavia was already asleep. She could go from the speed of light to flat out in less than five minutes. She supposed it had something to do with being pregnant.
In a way, they were still a bit like children themselves, making rash decisions and being loud without thinking of consequences. But then, she supposed, that's what Octavia had been trying to tell her. They were adult son the outside but still childlike on the inside, full of curiosity and wonder about the world. That's why they made mistakes. The adult thing about it was that they learnt from those mistakes.
Vinyl knew one thing: Octavia and their son were definitely one of her better decisions in life.
Author's Note
I wrote this in an hour, so don't expect it to be too good or anything.
I used to hate OctaScratch. What changed my mind?
These two. Check them out. They're amazing.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this random ... thing.
Have a nice day.
