Tomorrow

by The Darling Cookie

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, Slice of Life, DJ P0N-3, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad
Length: 2068

Vinyl Scratch finds herself in a future full of misery and dread. Hope seems lost and she attempted to drink her miseries away. But one day she learns that tomorrow will be better and she begins a journey to let go of the past and to heal herself.

Takes place many years after The Treble Clef and The Double Note and sequentially after The Lone DJ as well. Reading both stories aren't necessary since this one is in the distant future but it is recommended.

Vinyl Scratch is perhaps the most famous DJ in all of Equestria and her legacy is one to be shared and cherished for many more years to come. Even though she retains her youth, she has aged considerably and with time she has learned the hardest of lessons; forgiveness. Many years ago Vinyl made a mistake and hurt the one pony she had loved more than anything else in life; Octavia. And she kept repeating this mistake until Octavia had enough.

And so for a long time she was lost and reverted to her former self; drinking and drinking her misery away to try to forget the pain. She thought wallowing around in filth and self-pity would answer the void inside her heart but with every day that passed, she only got worse. She lost the hope she once had in life and filled herself with alcohol. But one day she changed. She decided that she would change her ways and that she would forgive everyone who had done her wrong, including herself. She finally decided she would move on and let go of the past that was leeching onto her. She decided that instead of living in the past or present, she would live for tomorrow.

And so began a long road to recovery and acceptance. Finally she would be able to find it in herself to love herself and to keep moving forward, to a better tomorrow. Finally she decided she would be happy and she would stay that way, no matter what. She decided that she would be positive and see the good in everything instead of seeing the bad. She realized that everypony deserves a better tomorrow, even herself.

Story is written by me, The Daring Cookie, (aka Mydarkcookie), cover art assembled by me using various pictures and vectors. It's been a year since I've written anything and well quite frankly I'm back in business guys and gals!

I hope you enjoy the story. Tomorrow is here! :D

Published 2017-01-06 22:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-01-06 22:40:01 UTC

Tomorrow is here

BEEP BEEP BEEP!!

A white unicorn stirred around in her bed, twitching a little as small rays of sunlight started to kiss the top of her face.

“Mmmufgg..” she mumbled, trying to fight the morning.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!!

“Okay okay! I’ll get up!” she annoyingly said, fumbling her hooves around until she found the alarm and turned it off.

She stayed sitting upright and groaned, annoyed that today was another day. She grimaced as she looked around her room, noticing how much neglect it was in since it was so unkempt and filthy. She groaned again and fell down on her bed, bouncing up and down slightly from it.

“Why? Why do I have to get up?” she asked no pony, as if she hoped to get a response.

She closed her eyes but after 5 minutes of trying to fall back asleep she realized it was to no avail. She then cumbersomely decided to get up; swinging off the bed so fast she almost fell down. She caught herself on her nearby dresser and almost cried as she hugged it. But she held back the tears and sulked over to the bathroom. Various bottles of liquor scattered the floor and she made her way through it slowly, kicking bottles softly onto other bottles.

“Here I go again. Getting ready. For what?” she said to herself in a monotone.

As she made her way to the bathroom she had a thought she hadn’t had for a while.

Octavia.

She dismissed it but it lingered, staying on her mind way after she finished brushing her teeth. As she stared at the broken reflection of herself, the thought continued to harass her until she angrily threw a hoof at the mirror, causing it to break even further.

“Dang it! Ahh ah dang it!!” She yelled, fighting her sobs and tears.

But she couldn’t. She slid to the ground slowly as tears started overpowering her eyes and sobs quivered her muscles. She grasped her hoof in pain but that hardly mattered compared to the pain she felt inside as she kept crying and crying.

“I-I’m sorry but th-that doesn’t mean much huh?” she sobbed over and over again until her eyes ran dry.

As she cleared her snout and wiped off any remaining tears, the white unicorn calmed down enough to continue about her day. She cleaned herself up and fixed her mane, checking her father’s watch before deciding to leave the apartment.

We used to leave together. Now we don’t. No pony’s fault but my own.

She opened the door and looked back at her apartment one more time before leaving.

“What a mess. I’m a mess..” She said softly, grimacing.

She then opened the door and put on her sunglasses before locking the apartment door and closing it. She head down the stairs towards the street level and gulped before opening the outside door to the street. Immediately she was met by the bustling busy nature of Manehatten as dozens and dozens of ponies zipped by, all in a hurry to be somewhere. But she knew she wasn’t in a particular hurry to anywhere and grimaced on that fact.

I guess I’ll just go to the park and hope no pony recognizes me.

And so she made her way to Central Park, fighting not only the tide of incoming ponies but the tide of her own emotions, both of which were hard to go against. But she kept fighting to move forward and eventually she made it to the park. She didn’t know why she was going to Central Park other than the slight notion she would get something out of it. Maybe the park would make her feel better or maybe it would do something else but to Vinyl it was all she could think of doing today.

I guess money isn’t something I have to worry about anymore. It’s funny. She always used to say I would succeed. Now..well..yeah..

As Vinyl trotted along the path in the park she came across a lake and a bench nearby. She decided to sit on the bench and watch as the ducks gathered all around the lake, the soothing winds blowing against her mane as she did so.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice said next to her, surprising her.

Vinyl looked to her right and saw an older stallion sitting next to her, looking out towards the lake.

“Can’t forget the past huh?” the stallion asked, still looking to the lake.

Vinyl didn’t know how to respond and was thinking of an answer until the stallion spoke again.

“It’s okay. You don’t got to answer. You’re not alone. You’re not alone at all.” the stallion said, turning to face Vinyl and giving her a smile.

He was probably middle aged and his once proud brown mane was faded with time. He used to be a larger stallion when he was youthful but time had done its work on him, leaving his frame large but muscles smaller. Wrinkles could be seen around his eyes and as Vinyl stared into them she could swear she could see all he had lived through to that point. His soft green eyes were so dynamic yet so solid in color she could’ve mistaken them as a younger stallion’s eyes. His smile was slightly gaunt but it was well meaning, comfortable and pleasant to the eyes.

“The war scarred me and haunted me. I made decisions I am not proud of and it was something I couldn’t let go for a long time. I let the past control me Vic and it wasn’t pretty. Every day was a struggle against myself and I knew what would eventually happen sooner or later if I didn’t do something about it. What I did was not easy at all; it was probably the hardest thing I ever did in my life”

“I forgave myself. I had to Vic because if I didn’t the past would have just consumed me and I wouldn’t be here on this lovely day on a bench talking to you. But that’s not the only thing I did. I decided to let go of the past since I couldn’t change it. The present wasn’t so good for me at the time but I knew there was one thing I could change and influence and it was the future. And so I started something that I continue to this very day.”

“I started believing that tomorrow would be better. No matter how bleak things were at the time or how dark I felt I would constantly remind myself that tomorrow would be better and that tomorrow would come. Can you believe I did that? Well believe it! Day by day I believed that Vic until I finally got to tomorrow. And it is beautiful! I’d never thought I would ever see a beautiful lake like the one I am seeing now.”

“So the way I see it is you can beat yourself up blue about the past and keep living in it and be miserable or you can have hope. You can have hope that tomorrow will be better no matter how bad the present might be. You want to know why? Because tomorrow will be that much better if you do! It’s tough to move on but I know you can do it Vic! You want to know how I do? Because I believe in you. All you have to do is believe in yourself and believe that tomorrow will be better. I know you can make it to tomorrow! If I could, you definitely can.”

The stallion smiled once again at Vinyl and softly placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Tomorrow is almost here. Tomorrow is almost here Victoria. Just hang in there.”

Vinyl looked over to the stallion and smiled when she saw his caring smile.

“I know who you are. You’re my past. You’ve come to tell me to let go..” Vinyl softly said, tears starting to form into her eyes.

“That’s right. That’s right Vic. Let it out. Let it all out.”

“It hurts..it hurts so much. Not only the war but..but with her..I finish one war only to start and stay in another..why? Why must she hate me so much?”

“I know it hurts Vinyl. I know it does. I know how much pain you are in. But that’s in the past. The past happened and there’s not much you can do about it. But you can believe in tomorrow. That’s what you can do. Tomorrow is beautiful and I know you know that. You just have to make it one day at a time, okay?”

“But..but..” Vinyl choked, her tears now cascading down her face as she started sniffling.

The stallion hugged her and softly ran his hoof down her hair.

“It’s okay little baby blue. It’s okay. Sssh sssh. There there.” The stallion softly said, comforting the sobbing Vinyl.

“I can’t fight anymore. I can’t..I can’t Dad..”

“I know. You don’t have to anymore Vinyl. You don’t have to.”

“I miss you Dad..I miss you a lot.”

“I know you do baby blue. I know you do. But you have to let go of the past, including me. It’s what I would want you to do. It’s hard but you’ve come so far and so long to be stopped by one thing. Don’t let that weigh you down. Don’t let what happened stop you from getting to tomorrow. You’re going to make it but you have to let me go before you do.”

“Bu-but she hates me. She hates me. She hates me Dad. She is so hateful of me..”

“There are so many ponies who think good of you, especially Dinky. There are so many you have helped and inspired; surely you shouldn’t let the opinions of one outweigh the rest right?”

Vinyl whimpered and nodded her head slightly.

“I never thought the future would’ve been like this in the past..”

“Nopony ever does. But remember baby blue, if you believe that tomorrow will be better then you can get through today. I know you still believe in that. I can see it in you”

The stallion smiled at Vinyl lovingly and Vinyl smiled half-heartily back.

“I don’t want you to go Dad. I need you. I miss you.”

“I know you do little sugar cube. But just know I’m always in here. I’m always with you. Always.” Brass Gramophone said, pointing to her heart.

“I wished I never hurt Octavia..I wish I never did..”

“I know. I know you do. It’s okay though..let it go honey. Move forward. You deserve to be happy my little sugar cube. Tomorrow is finally here for you”

And as Vinyl started to finally let go of the past she cried and cried as her father started becoming transparent. His warming smile and eyes continued gazing upon her lovingly as he started to fade into the background much to Vinyl’s dismay. But she knew that her father was right; she knew she had to let go of the past.

I will always love you and be with you sugar cube. Always..

Vinyl’s sobs quieted down as the last traces of his presence blended into the background.

“Goodbye Daddie..” Vinyl softly said, her tears dry and her snout runny.

Vinyl looked back towards the lake and smiled to herself as she felt relieved; a huge weight had finally been let go from her and she felt better for it. She chuckled to herself and repeated his words.

“Tomorrow is here Dad. It is here and it’s beautiful..I..I did it heh..I..I made it to tomorrow..”

The sun softly glowed on her white fur as her smile became bigger, the wind softly flowing through her mane and the ducks in the distance softly quacking. Finally Vinyl was at peace with herself and she was much better for it. All of her pain from the past was finally gone and she finally was happy again after so many years of painful regret. And in this moment Vinyl could only think of one thing.

“Tomorrow” she thought to herself smiling, staring outwards towards the ducks swimming in the beautiful lake that was hugged by a loving warm sun.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed the story! If you liked it don't forget to leave a like and a comment! :pinkiehappy: