The Snow on Her Cheek

Epilogue

***

"Uh... My stomach is tingling," Octavia complained to Bon-Bon as the cream-coloured mare tightened the dress around the cellist's waist. If the saying went, "to have butterflies in one's stomach", then Octavia's butterflies were devouring her from the inside. Sweat was forming on her brow and she was gulping nervously every other second.

"Just relax, Octavia," the cream-coloured pony tried to calm her, inspecting the dress closely. "It is your wedding day, after all! You should be happy."

"I am." The cellist nodded, looking into the mirror. The white dress fitted her perfectly: the little streaks of grey merged with her coat beautifully and the red necklace she was wearing resembled Vinyl's eyes in colour. Vinyl... she thought about her maref- no, her fiancée and the nervous fit subsided a little. "Just... I'm really nervous.  What... What if Vinyl... changes her mind? What if this was all a mistake?" she asked with fear in her voice, even though deep in her heart she knew it was not true.

Bon-Bon chuckled and shook her head. "You know very well that's not true. I asked myself the same questions on my wedding day. Tell me, Octavia," the cream-coloured mare pierced the cellist with her eyes. "Do you love Vinyl?"

"Of course I do!" Octavia exclaimed without hesitation, the answer coming from her very heart. "What a stupid question, Bon-Bon. I'm marrying her!"

Bon-Bon smiled, and a realisation suddenly dawned upon the grey earth pony. "I love her, and I'm marrying her." Octavia grinned. "I'm marrying her because I love her, and she loves me." Her mood skyrocketed in a matter of seconds. "And it is just the way it is meant to be," she concluded, her face shining with happiness.

"Now you get it!" Bon-Bon cheered. "Now let's go," she said, looking at the clock that was adorning the wall of the room, which the registry office had allowed them to use so kindly.

Octavia cast one last look about the room. The encouraging glare of the sun radiated off the walls, building a castle of confidence inside the cellist. She nodded and opened the door.

"Let's go," she said with determination. As she left the improvised dressing room with her best mare, she couldn't help but think, I wonder if Vinyl is doing all right...

***

"Grr! Can't... breathe!" Vinyl groaned as Lyra fixed the dress tightly around her waist.

"Well if somepony weren't so fat..." Lyra hissed back, wiping the sweat off her brow. The battle with the wedding dress was won, and the two ponies deserved some rest. The plain dressing room, or, to be exact, just room, was bathing in sunlight, as the sun shone brightly in the sky. As if it could be otherwise on such a perfect day... Vinyl mused, looking around.

"I wanted to wear a suit, anyway," Vinyl mumbled, trying to hide her nervousness behind fake disapprovement.

"Heh, keep tellin' me." Lyra waved her hoof in the air. "I told Bonnie the same, but she totally shouted at me that 'in no way would she allow her bride to wear anything other than a dress' on our wedding day," the mint unicorn perfectly copied her wife's accent and manner of speech, making the pianist chuckle a little.

A few moments of silence passed before Vinyl finally wondered, "Do you think Tavi is nervous, too?"

Lyra smirked and put a comforting hoof on the white mare's shoulder. "I think she's all right, and so should be you," she said with a smile. "I bet Bonnie and she are discussing our horns right now, or something." She winked at Vinyl, who blushed deeply. Would Tavi really... Not that there's anything wrong with that...

"C'mon, Vinyl. Time to get you hitched," the mint unicorn said finally, trotting towards the door.

Vinyl took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Well, today is the day, she told herself, trying to be calm and collected. Suddenly, an idea rushed to her mind.

"Hey, Lyra?"

"Yep?" the mint mare replied without looking back.

"My horn's longer." Vinyl grinned, leaving the room. "At least by an inch."

"Keep dreaming, my friend. Keep dreaming."

***

Octavia stood before the registry table, shifting from hoof to hoof uncomfortably. To her left was located an ensemble, mostly composed of brass and wind instruments. She didn't know those ponies - her father had hired them as soon as he'd heard about the occasion. He was here too - to her left, where he sat with Tom by his side, both of them surrounded by bodyguards. A hint of sadness crawled into the cellist's heart as she thought that Vinyl had no family members to witness the memorable occasion.

She shook her head in a determined manner. No. She was Vinyl's family now. And, in a matter of minutes, it would become official.

The trumpets blared as Vinyl and Lyra entered the short room, slowly moving towards the registry table. The ensemble played solemn, uplifting music as Octavia tossed a reassuring smile to her mare, receiving a similar smile in return. It wasn't jazz, but the music was still quite pleasant. In a few moments, Vinyl was standing by Octavia's side, her purple necklace fitting Octavia's eyes perfectly, while her own red eyes reflected in her mare's red necklace. She felt strangely naked without her goggles, Vinyl mused.

"Fillies and gentlecolts!" the blue unicorn mare behind the counter announced. "We have gathered here to watch a wonderful union be formed, a union that would last forever, a union that-" she coughed and paled a little as she saw Tom tap his hoof-watch with a hoof. "Aaaanyway! To cut the long story short, we are here to witness the wedding of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Philarmonica. VInyl Scratch, do you-"

"I do!" Vinyl blurted out, interrupting the mare, her eyes wide, sweat pouring from her brow. Octavia couldn't help but chuckle at her mare's embarrassment.

"Ahem." The blue mare frowned. "Usually, ponies let me finish the oath before I can-"

"We can say the oaths ourselves," Octavia interrupted her politely, but coldly, her eyes flashing with a steely light for a second, sending shivers down the registry mare's spine. There is no way I'm letting her make fun of my Vinyl! Octavia thought with determination. Bon-Bon gasped, while Lyra's face broke into a grin. Alexandro smirked proudly, mouthing to Tom, loud enough for everypony to hear, "Philarmonica blood, Tom. I always said that blood was thicker than anything." Tom nodded in return, and Octavia began speaking.

"Vinyl Scratch," she said, her face plain and serious. It seemed so strange to address her lover by her full name, for once in her life. "All my life, I have been searching for something. Or, to be exact, somepony." Words didn't come easy, but the cellist decided to speak straight from her heart. "I have been searching for somepony to love, and for somepony who would love me. And then I met you. As fairy-talish as it may seem, I fell in love with you at first glance. The moment I met you at that wonderful jazz bar in Manehattan, I knew I would like to spend my whole life by your side.

"There have been difficulties in our relationship, but we fought them together, and we have overcome them together. Problems would stand in our way but they would never tear us apart. We have covered a long way together, and I want to stay with you till the day I die. Vinyl?" The white mare gulped as Octavia eyed her lovingly. "Do you agree to spend the rest of your life with me, in illness and health, in sorrow and happiness, till death do us part?"

Vinyl's red eyes filled with tears as she nodded softly. "I do." She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Octavia Philarmonica," she began with a gulp. "I am not a very clever pony..." Octavia giggled a little into her hoof, and that filled the pianist with sudden determination. "And while I can't speak so... grandi- grand..."

"Grandiloquently," Lyra whispered into her ear.

"Gran-di-lo-quent-ly," Vinyl carried on with a soft blush. "I sure know what I feel, and I know you know it too. I have never had family, in the true sense of the word. But now..." She let a smile appear on her face. "I know that I have found my family. You are my family, Tavi. You are my mare. You are my life. You are the meaning behind my existence. We both know how much we had overcome together, and yes, Tavi, I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you." She chuckled. "You know I'm not a bad pony, but even if I somehow decide to sell my soul to the devil one day, I won't be able to - because my soul already belongs to you. I love you, Tavi." She cleared her throat. "Octavia, do you agree to spend the rest of your life with me, in illness and health, in sorrow and happiness, till death do us part?"

"I do," Octavia replied, her eyes teary. She was so happy; if she were to write a book, she wouldn't be able to express the wholeness of her feelings in words. There were just not enough words in the English language.

"You may exchange rings," the blue unicorn said with a sniff.

Lyra and Bon-Bon handed the rings simultaneously, and Vinyl and Octavia put them on each other's hooves. They looked more like bracelets, but at the moment, nopony cared. At the moment, the band played once again, after a period of silence, during which the oaths were spoken. At the moment, two lovers put their signatures onto a piece of paper and united in a passionate kiss.

At the moment, Tom wiped a tear off his eye, which didn't go unnoticed by Alexandro.

"What's the matter, Tom?" the older stallion wondered with a smile. "Your sister's wedding managed to touch even your heart of stone?"

"Something got in my eye, that's it," replied Tom, although both stallions knew it wasn't true. But that didn't matter at the moment.

At the moment, Vinyl and Octavia broke the kiss for a moment, smiling at each other blissfully.

Damn, I can't believe it turned out so well, Vinyl thought. Well, after all, we deserved our happily ever after, she concluded. Just like in a sweet romance novel... she chuckled mentally.

And, surprisingly enough, or some would say, fully to have been expected, the same though resonated in Octavia's mind. It's all so perfect... Our happily ever after... Celestia, just how much we've been through! One could write a book about us, about our life...

The cellist smirked mentally at such a silly thought.

After all, who would want to write a book about it?