Canterlot, Equestria, summer of 1986
Hello, my name is Feather Quill, and I'm a writer. Though, I haven't had much success yet, too nervous to get the book published. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, well, I just turned 24 last Thursday, and I live in Canterlot, the epicenter of everything conservative and old fashioned; no disrespect to Princess Celestia of course. I have light blue eyes, a snow white coat, with a pinkish mane and tail, and I wear glasses. For the most part, life here is nice, especially if one belongs to one of the wealthier and oftentimes, older family of nobles. Though, if I were to be honest, I am not fond of most of the nobles, with their noses upturned and attitudes of "ha, I'm better than you".
I do have one friend though, the daughter of one of our neighbors, Dana Hoofington. She has a dark blue coat with purple-pinkish colored eyes and a mixed light and dark blue mane. As foals the two of us would play in the Hoofington's vineyard, all the while trying not to get caught by the keeper of the vineyard. Yes, she was one of my few friends, as all throughout my life I was a bit of a outcast. The other girls would obsess over their makeup, which dress they would wear to which party, and whoever they thought was the cutest colt in class. I wanted almost nothing to do with that, focusing heavily on my studies and my writing. I dated a few colts throughout high school, none I was attracted to, much to the chagrin of my parents who were dead set on me marrying a stallion. Dana's parents were much the same, though between the two of us she was probably more likely to be rebellious. She was also very athletic and not only was she athletic, but sweet Celestia she was really pretty, as practically every stallion fell head over hooves in love with her and wanted to date her. I always did feel bad for them after she turned them down, though secretly I was glad. As you can probably tell by now, I was like those stallions, though unlike them, my fear wasn't just from simple rejection. I was scared as hay that Danna was going to end our friendship and a rumor would start that I like mares. My fear was finally quelched one Winter morning in 1980. At the time, Dana and I were 17 and we were waiting at the bus stop. I was wearing a light pink scarf and a blue beanie, while Dana wore a green beanie and a white scarf. As we stood there in the cold, shifting our hooves as to stay warm, Dana turned to me and asked, "hey, Feather, are you okay, you seem more nervous than usual".
I shivered a bit before turning to her and replied, "y-yeah, totally. I am totally fine".
Dana snorted in her "yeah, that's a load of BS", kind of snort before continuing, "Feather, you are totally not okay, you're even more quiet than you usually are, and that's saying something".
Damn, she was right. I adjusted my glasses and sighed. "Hey, girl, what's wrong, is it some colt? Cause if it is, I'll smash his face in", Dana said, giving a wicked grin.
I chuckled slightly, knowing that she could easily do what she promised, having seen more than my fair share of unfortunate colts get slammed by Danna.
"W-well, Dana, it's just.... I dunno, , I've been having feeling about a certain somepony", I began, uncertain as to where this would go.
"A certain somepony? Feather, did you finally catch the lovebug with some lucky colt", Dana asked, a sly smile on her face.
"No, no no no, its not that", I replied, giggling.
"Well, then, what kind of feelings are we talking," Dana asked.
I didn't reply for a few seconds, trying to find the right words. Suddenly feeling an unexpected warmth, I looked down and saw a blue hoof resting on my foreleg.
"Its okay, Feather, whatever it is, I won't laugh at you, I promise", Danna said in a comforting tone.
Feeling my face brighten into a deep red, I felt my heart beating a mile a minute, threatening to burst out of my chest any moment. I found myself smiling, finding my friend's presence comforting. "Dana, w-what would you do if you knew a mare had feelings for you", I asked.
Dana grinned slyly. "Oh, I think I know a mare who already does", she said.
Suddenly, without warning, I felt Dana's lips press into mine, and a soft moan elicited from me. She was kissing me, she was really kissing me, and while blushing a deep red, I kissed her back. Not a deep or really a passionate kiss, mind you, but still satisfying nonetheless. Needing to collect our breath, we ended the kiss and stared into each other's eyes.
"D-Dana, that was amazing", I said, shocked.
She nodded and smiled, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks.
Six years have passed since that fateful day, and now I find myself laying in a bed with my lover, our legs intertwining.
"I love you," Dana said softly as she lay on top of me.
"I love you too, Babe", I replied, nuzzling her neck.
Dana giggled and kissed me some more, and I kissed back, a feeling of happiness and tranquility washing over me.
.....
"YOUNG LADY, YOU WILL EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW", the voice of a old unicorn stallion screamed at me.
I looked up at the unicorn, my father, who was giving me the harshest glare I had ever seen on him. Mother was there too, crossing her hooves and looking at me in disgust. The three of us were seated at the dining room table, Father had his hooves on the table in an old interrogation stance. Guess he was tapping into his experience at the CPD. "Feather Quill, I am shocked and disturbed with you. Why in Celestia's sake would you be making...love to another mare", Mother asked me.
"Mother, its healthy, normal love and I can't choose who I fall in love with", I answered.
"NONSENSE! Feather Quill, these queers are destroying the very fabric of our society and love was meant to be between a mare and a stallion, not between two stallions or two mares. its simply unnatural", Father yelled.
I rolled my eyes, knowing that my father was very prone to using this argument.
"You will not roll your eyes at your father, Young Lady", Mother said sternly.
"I am not a little filly anymore", I quipped.
"Doesn't matter, Feather, you have committed love to a pony of the same gender, perhaps the greatest crime against nature anypony can make", Father raged.
"But Father, ponies have been in gay relationships for thousands of years, what difference does it make now", I asked, my voice rising.
"What difference does it make?! Young Lady, back in my youth, we stoned queers to death, and even though we don't anymore, its still completely unnatural and a crime to all nature", Father replied, now noticeably more angry.
"Feather Quill, I for one agree with your father. How can you turn against all that we taught you, against our beliefs? Do you realize what this could do to our family once they found out", Mother chimed in, her voice more calm, but still seethed with poison.
Suddenly, I felt a flash of real anger. "What this could do to our family?! You're worried about what other ponies might say", I screamed.
"YES I AM, FEATHER! Your homosexual actions could very well cost us our standing within Canterlot. We'll be ridiculed and mocked, for our ONLY daughter is fooling around with mares", she screamed back.
"THAT DOES IT", Father yelled, coming unto me.
Suddenly, I felt his hoof strike my face, and fell to the ground. Shocked, I slowly check my face with my hoof, feeling the still hot pain.
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE, YOU ARE NO DAUGHTER OF OURS", Father yelled, threatening to hit me again.
Scared and with tears streaming down my face, I ran out of the house, running as far as my legs could carry me. For what felt like an hour, I ran, ran faster and harder than I have ever done with my life, harder than my track runs. Hot tears stung my face as I ran, making it very difficult to see. Eventually, my legs could run no further, and I found myself in front of a nightclub, the red light seeming to tell all it had to offer. Leaning against the side of the club, I slid down to the ground, placing my face in my hooves. It was then I began sobbing, albeit muffled sobs. Suddenly, I felt a hoof tap me and a familiar voice say, "Feather, is that you"?
With tear struck eyes, I looked up and saw it was the face of Dana's brother, Miles.
....
Miles took me to his apartment on the edge of the city, where he and his fiance lived. I didn't know Miles too well, having only met him acouple times during high school and from the way Dana talked about him, he seemed like a really cool guy. Walking into his apartment, I was immediately hit with the smell of cigarettes and liquor, a foul smell that me tense up and feel queasy. "Hey, sorry about the condition of the place, my fiance and I like to have parties, wild parties here, yeahhh", Miles said, grinning.
"Yeah, I can tell", I replied, feeling a little green in the face.
"Miles, who's that with you", a mare's voice called.
"Honey, this is the mare Dana's been seeing, remember", Miles called back.
The owner of the mare's voice suddenly came into the living room, and while she wasn't ugly, she wasn't exactly drop dead gorgeous either. She had a greyish-blue mane, with a dark purple mane that was really curly, wore purple eyeliner, and was smoking a cigarette while also chewing bubblegum. All in all, not a pleasant sight.
"Ah, yeah, I remember you, you're the mare Dana's been banging, aren't ya", she asked.
"Y-yeah, that's me", I replied shyly.
"Hey, Hon, could you call Dana? I found her sitting at the side of the nearby nightclub, bawling her eyes out", Miles asked.
The mare raised an eyebrow, but went ahead and did so. Thirty minuted, Dana arrived at the apartment, rushing over to Feather.
"Feather, its me, are you okay? What happened, did your parents find out about us", Dana asked rapidly, nearing tears herself.
I looked up at her, my face still wet with tears. "D-Dana, Baby", I couldn't finish before I started sobbing again and Dana pulled me into a tight hug.
...
"... and he told me to get out and that I was not their daughter anymore, so now I'm here", I said, finishing the tale.
The three other ponies at the table stared at me, shocked, with tears falling on Dana's face. "Oh-Babe, I- I am so sorry", she croaked.
Mile's fiance, who's name was Bubblegum, took a draft of her cig before replying, "wow, that's really terrible".
Though, to be honest, I couldn't know for sure if she was being sincere or not, due to her lack of expression. Miles, who had also started smoking, took a moment before he made his comment.
"So, what's your plans now? Obviously, you can't go back to your parents' place, and I don't think you'd want to stay here", he said, taking a draft of his smoke as he did so.
"Well, I...I dunno. I mean, Canterlot is my home, and there aren't many places in Equestria that's friendly to gays, right", I asked, my ears drooping.
"Yes and no. Canterlot is just the most conservative city in Equestria, while most of the others are starting to become more open. I know for a fact Los Pegasus is pretty open towards gay ponies", Miles explained.
"Yes, Miles, but Los Pegasus is on the other side of the country, and I doubt Feather has the money to get there anymore since her parents disowned her", Dana responded.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead with my hooves. Both of them were technically right, as Los Pegasus was fastly becoming one of the most liberal cities in Equestria. At the same time, however, my parents most certainly would've cut me loose from the family's list, and I wouldn't be able to access the bank. In short, I was totally screwed.
"What if I told you I have a friend in Los Pegasus who'll gladly get you two set up in Los Pegasus, AND get you both a decent life there", Miles asked, blowing smoke.
I looked up at Miles, my expression one of cautious hope. "R-really", I asked, hoping to not sound too hopeful.
Dana seemed taken aback and listened as Miles explained about his friend, who apparently owned a rapidly growing studio in Los Pegasus and was looking at getting somepony for to head his writing staff and was having trouble finding somepony to do the job. As we listened, I began to grow more and more hopeful. Yes, I thought, maybe this will be our lucky break, and I can finally publish that book. After he finished explaining, Dana and I considered it for a few moments, letting the weight of it all sink in.
"Brother, what about Mom and Dad," Dana asked Miles, looking concerned.
"Mom and Dad probably already know about what happened, as I know Feather's parents are pretty quick with news. Trust me, there's no home for you there now," Miles explained.
Nodding slowly, Dana sighed and said, "alright, we'll do it".
"Excellent, I'll let him know what's going on", Miles replied, grinning.
From that moment on, I realized, nothing would remain the same.
