The Snow on Her Cheek

Chapter Thirty

Happy Days Are Here Again

***

"So, how long have you two been living here?" Vinyl broke the comfortable silence that had enclosed the small cosy kitchen as the four mares were drinking their tea.

"Four years," Bon-Bon replied, placing a lump of sugar into her cup. "We moved here from Ponyville." The cream-coloured pony closed her eyes with a smile. "The place we met." She cast a loving glance towards her wife, who smiled in return.

"Yeah, Ponyville's a nice place," Lyra admitted, taking a pack of cigarettes out of her saddlebags. "Mind if I have a smoke?" she enquired, eyeing the grey earth pony, who simply shrugged.

"So long as Vinyl's okay with it," Octavia said, moving a conveniently placed ashtray closer to the mint unicorn. The pianist nodded, and Lyra lit a cigarette, inhaling the smoke blissfully.

"Honey, smoking so much is bad for your health," Bon-Bon scolded her mare disapprovingly, pouring herself another cup of tea.

Lyra took a deep puff and grinned. "You know what else is bad for your health?" She pointed at the lump of sugar Bon-Bon was holding, ready to put it into the cup. "Eating so much sugar. I swear, Bonnie, if you keep eating so much sweet stuff, your flank is gonna get bigger and bigger till you cannot move." The mint unicorn smirked at the blushing earth pony, while Vinyl and Octavia exchanged confused looks.

"Well, our neighbours are definitely pretty blunt," the grey mare mouthed to her marefriend, who nodded in agreement.

"Oh, Lyra, dear, don't tell me you don't like my flank~" Bon-Bon cooed, swishing her tail across Lyra's face, eliciting a squeak from the mint mare.

"No, I mean, yes, I like your flank..." Lyra dropped her cigarette into the ashtray, her mouth hung wide open as her wife got up, wiggling her flanks right before her eyes.

Octavia and Vinyl exchanged embarrassed looks at the sudden show of affection from their neighbours, their faces turning red simultaneously.

"Hehe, guys?" Vinyl waved a hoof in the air, trying to draw the mares' attention, as they looked into each other's half-closed eyes, exchanging sly grins. "Could you save it for the bedroom?" she asked with an uneasy chuckle, her face hot as she eyed Octavia from the corner of her eye, seeing her mare blushing deeply as well.

"Oh, sorry." Lyra blinked as she snapped into reality. "I guess we kinda... forgot ourselves..." She chuckled, a little blush covering her face.

"Sorry," Bon-Bon said, shaking her head. "Just... we've been married for a mere day, and, well..." Before she could continue, Octavia interrupted her politely.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" The grey pony let out a fake laugh, trying to change the topic of the discussion. "Vinyl and I have read about you in the newspaper, and, well, we were..." She looked at her mare for support.

"Totally shocked," the pianist supplied. "In a good way, though. It's cool that mares like us can... well, get married..." She averted her gaze to avoid looking at Octavia, who did the same, remembering their previous... discussion.

Why didn't I say yes at once? Octavia chided herself. Now I have to wait till Vinyl gathers her courage again... or... I can propose first?..

"Yes, that's awesome." Lyra nodded, inspecting the now-deceased cigarette. "I mean, annulling the damn filly-fooling law and legalising single-sex marriage at the same time? Gimme two!" she exclaimed, making Bon-Bon mumble something about "foalish behaviour".

"It came as a surprise, actually," Lyra carried on, lighting another cigarette, letting the smoke flow freely about the room. "The thing is, Bonnie and I have been dating for so long that we have considered our relationship some kind of that of a married couple. Despite the laws and stuff, we never hid our feelings," she said with a warm smile.

"It shows..." Vinyl mumbled, exchanging a knowing look with Octavia, who nodded, hearing her mare's remark.

"Ponies have usually been quite tolerant around here," the mint unicorn continued, rings of white smoke escaping her mouth. "I mean, we have never been threatened here, contrary to Ponyville. So when the news came, I said, 'Bonnie, are you thinking what I'm thinking?', and she said, 'Yes, honey, I think so,' and then we went to the registry office and damn, you should have seen the look on the receptionist's face! And then all those journalists appeared from nowhere, and hey, we're the first same-sex couple to get married in this country!" Lyra threw her hoof in the air victoriously. "Ain't that something? Oh, and we totally made out right there in the registry office," she concluded with a proud smirk, while Bon-Bon blushed and facehoofed, muttering something under her breath, something, which, to Octavia and Vinyl's ears, included the words "strangle" and "Lyra".

"Told you it would be all right to make out in public!" Vinyl exclaimed, turning to Octavia, supporting her statement with an assuring hoof gesture.

"Vinyl!" The cellist blushed deeply, quickly turning towards Lyra and Bon-Bon. "You must forgive my marefriend, she can be-"

"No, that's okay!" Lyra interrupted her. "It would be kinda hot, you know?" She winked at the grey pony, immediately receiving a blow upon her head from Bon-Bon.

"Ouch!" Lyra winced. "What was that for?" the unicorn whined.

"You know very well," Bon-Bon responded in a calm tone, making Octavia stare at her with respect. I guess I could pick up a few things from Bon-Bon... in case Vinyl gets out of hoof... she mused, casting a side glance at her mare, who was laughing light-heartedly.

"Oh, guys, you're amazing!" Vinyl chuckled one last time, wiping a tear off her eye. "We should totally hang out sometime!" she suggested, receiving a nod of approval from Octavia.

"How about tonight?" Lyra suggested. "It's New Year's Day tomorrow, after all!" She turned to face her wife, who smiled, nodding.

"It would be lovely to spend the New Year's Eve with you two," the cream-coloured mare said softly.

"Sure!" Octavia exclaimed. Damn it, how could I have forgotten about the New Year! She looked at Vinyl, who was nodding vigorously, but sheepishly at the same time. I guess I'm not the only one here...

"Yeah, it would be great to meet the New Year with you," the pianist agreed. "But we still need to do some unpacking stuff..."

"Oh, sure thing!" Bon-Bon nudged Lyra with a hoof. "Honey, let's go, lest we interrupt Octavia and Vinyl."

The mint unicorn obeyed, trotting after her wife. As they left hastily, the two musical ponies could still hear Lyra's muffled whisper, "I swear, they just made an excuse to rut each other till they can't stand straight!"

Octavia's face flushed as she exchanged an embarrassed glance with Vinyl, whose face had turned a deep shade of crimson as well.

"You know..." Vinyl drew a circle on the table with her hoof as Octavia cleaned the ashtray. "She may have a point..."

Vengeance came swiftly as Octavia developed a well-placed blow down the pianist's head, her facial expression unwavering.

"Hey, Tavi, what was that for?" Vinyl whined, rubbing the back of her head. "I thought-"

"That was..." Octavia said as she approached her mare and dragged her into a kiss. "...For not bringing it up earlier," she finished with a sly grin, breaking the kiss. "There's plenty of time till the evening and we've not very much things and- Vinyl, what are you doing?!"

But the pianist was no longer able to put up with her mare's chatty mouth being... unoccupied. She levitated the grey pony, placing her onto the sofa, climbing after her, drawing the curtains and flicking off the light.