//------------------------------// // Regret // Story: A Scratch On Shining Armor // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------// “Never regret anything you have done with a sincere affection; nothing is lost that is born of the heart.” -Basil Rathbone         “What was that…?” Vinyl asked, her mouth working for a few seconds before the words actually came out. Shining wasn’t sure what he expected, but some part of him thought it might be acceptance. He had taken one hell of a gamble, and he had slightly expected it to pay off.         That expectation had left him rather confident that Vinyl would reciprocate the kiss, but the puzzled look on the mare’s face made his cocky surefire outward appearance crumble. Where once sat the grinning, surefire stallion was now a pony on very unsteady ground. This was uncharted territory, and he had to make the only move he could after making such a mistake of assuming a response.         “I’m sorry…” He looked away from the mare, the shame of the act he had just committed catching up to him. It had been a mistake, why did he think Scratch would remotely be okay with that. “I just…” Shining stood up. “I thought that...maybe...it was something we both needed.” “What would give you that idea, Twinkle?” Vinyl cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. The stallion swallowed the nerves and guilt that had been building up in his throat and decided to fight through it. “Um..well…” Shining was not used to feeling this uncomfortable around Scratch, but ever since that night where they had both drank too much...it had been a constant thing. “Do you remember the night where we found out about Cadance...and you came home and we both started drinking?” “Bits and pieces.” Vinyl admitted, staring at her hooves. “I remember coming home and drinking some, but a lot of it is just fuzzy.” At least that was consistent, but Shining was willing to bet that the clearer parts of the memories were anything but consistent. “Why? What does that have to do with you putting the moves on me?” “I remember going to bed, I think.” The memories weren’t as clear as he would like, especially for what he was about to say.  “I remember laying down and I remember...well I remember you kissing me.” Vinyl’s eyes widened in surprise, just like he thought they would. “I know, maybe drunk me isn’t someone I can trust entirely, but the memory feels real.” “It would explain why we woke up together.” Scratch put her head in her hooves. “I just...AAARGH!” Vinyl lashed out with her magic, picking up her suitcase and tossing it off of the bed. “Why does everything have to be so damn complicated…?” Vinyl lamented to...somepony. Shining wasn’t sure if she was talking to him, herself or nopony in particular. The worst part was, Shining didn’t know how to respond. How could he? What would he say? ‘That’s life.’? It was a bit callous considering the mood he wanted to convey He could try to comfort her, but that was always a gamble with Scratch. It could either work or she could get mad and push him away. There was no way of really telling how it would go. “You...dummy…” Vinyl spoke softly.. You big, stupid dummy.” “Vinyl…” Shining couldn’t just stand by any longer, he had to say something. “...don’t beat yourself up over it, it’s my mistake for even kissing you.” He reached out a hoof, but it was swatted away. “I was calling you the dummy!” Vinyl yelled at him. “You’re supposed to be the sane one here! You’re supposed to be the one keeping me in line, Twinkle! You’re not supposed to be an idiot and fall for me or something!” Vinyl got off of the bed and started pacing along the length of the room. “I-I mean, yeah I thought about trying something early on, but when I saw you were with Cadance I backed off...and now...now...man, I am not going to do this. You’re heartbroken and vulnerable, I’m vulnerable..this isn’t right.” The last part of Scratch’s mini-rant ended with her looking Shining right in the eyes. “This can’t be right, right?” “Yeah, Cadance and I did just break up...and it hurts. It hurts more than I ever knew something could hurt.” He took a deep breath and focused on the mare in front of him. “Maybe it was wrong of me to kiss you like that, maybe it was too fast and I’m sorry if it was.” His heart was racing, beating against his chest like a furious percussionist.  “But part of me knows I really shouldn’t feel bad. I know you like nopony else I’ve ever met, Scratch. Hell, even Cadance wouldn’t talk to me about her family or what was bothering her...I knew her as a pony, but I didn’t know her like I know you.” He stood up and trotted over to Vinyl, towering over her in stature but feeling smaller than ever. “I know your pain, and your heart. I know your good and your bad...and even through all of it, I still can’t help but to feel something for you.” “When…” Vinyl bit her lip and looked away, but her everstrong tenacity brought her back to looking at Shining with renewed vigor. “When you first showed up, I-I did want to sleep with you. It wasn’t because I liked you or something, but I thought it would be fun...like a game or something.” Vinyl sighed, but still met Shining’s eyes. “But then I saw you and Cadance and knew that...that I wasn’t a homewrecker. I couldn’t do that again.” “Again?’ Shining was always one to pick up on the little things, it was a bad habit of his. This seemed like a story he hadn’t heard before, and maybe it could shed some light on why she was so averse to the current situation. “I...I-um...well, I dated a Diamond Dog once.” Vinyl sat down on the floor and started to avoid eye contact. “She was something special, y’know?  A real knockout, good sense of humor, and one helluva dancer.” Vinyl bit something back, like a venomous comment or something of the like. “We met at a club where we hit it off real quick, y’know? Practically fell in love at first sight. We headed back to my place and really hit it off.” Briefly, Shining thought about how that might work, but derailed that particular train rather quickly. “She said she had to go home and she would be back, few days later and there she is, back again. She decided to stay that time, and it was the happiest I’d been in a long time.” Vinyl’s eyes narrowed and she sneered at some invisible adversary. “When I asked if she had family...she lied. She had a family; a mom and dad, a sister...a husband and children.” “Oh no…” Shining was not ready for that. He had guessed where it was going to end, but it still caught him off guard. “Vinyl…” “He showed up, her husband, and blamed me for everything. He said it was my fault she left him and their pups, that I was to blame for wrecking their family. He called me a gem, shiny and luring...I didn’t want to do that again with you and Cadance.” “You didn’t.” Shining stepped forward and put his forehead against Vinyl’s, something the mare did not even resist. “Everything that happened between me and Cadance was because of her, not anything you did. If anything, I should be thanking you, without you I don’t know if I’d ever found out about what Cadance did. I should be thanking you.” “For what…” Vinyl muttered. “...ruining the longest relationship, ever?” Both ponies looked up at each other, apprehension and a small bit of longing igniting the air between the two. “All I’ve done is cause you trouble…”         “Well yeah, that’s part of the reason I like you. Never a dull moment.” Both ponies smiled ever so briefly. “It took me a long time to come to grips with this, to admit to myself that I could even think about liking someone other than Cadance. I didn’t even think I could get over her, or ever forgive her.” Their gaze broke, both ponies looking to the side at the awkward mention of the Princess of Love. “But what you said the other day, about never really forgiving but moving on. It made me think that it’s better to move on as soon as possible than letting all of the weight hold us back.”         Shining lifted his head off of Vinyl’s and started to pull away, only to be pulled right back by a light blue aura. The unicorns’ noses touched and an intense pause followed. Shining knew this was against the rules, you weren’t supposed to even think about dating somepony you were assigned to. But hey, he knew the old saying about rules being broken.         Both of them moved in at the same time, capturing the other’s lips in their own. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, all of the stress and pain melted away in an instant. Every muscle in the room relaxed as the guard and his charge kissed. ----         Glory sat on the lumpy yellow couch in Cedar’s livingroom. The stallion and the girls had already went off to bed, just as the moon poked its head over the distant horizon. Now she was alone again, with a pillow and blanket to use for comfort through the night.         The daisy-colored mare put the rather solid pillow against one of the armrests of the couch and laid her head against it. Slowly, and with more pain in her knees than she would like to admit, she pulled the blanket over herself and stared at the moon that was currently climbing into the sky.         “You’re getting old, Sky.” She mumbled to herself, rubbing her back knees with her hooves. It wasn’t that she really was all that old, hell she was only twenty-seven, but the years had not been kind to her in any sense. She had been to doctors, and they told her that her depression can cause physical problems. Only now, when it seemed she was at the light at the end of the tunnel, did it seem the pain was truly catching up to her.         “What do you think?” Sky nonchalantly asked the mare in the moon as she flew into the sky. “Do you think all of this is worth it? All of the stuff we’re going through?” The moon simply hung in the sky, unwavering. “I just don’t want everything I’m going through-everything Vinyl is going through-to be for nothing. We’ve both been through a lot, whether Vinyl wants to see my heartbreak or not.” The mare in the moon remained silent as always. “I just need this to go well…”         “...Are you talking to the moon…?” A little voice came from somewhere nearby, it was a voice that Sky couldn’t help but tear up at. The older mare sat up and saw her daughter standing at the threshold of the living room, bathed in moonlight. “I like to do that too, she’s a good listener.” “Yes, she’s a very good listener.” Glory said with a smile. “Now what are you doing up? I thought you were supposed to be asleep by now.”  Lily trotted further into the room and closer to the couch, looking at her little hooves as she did so. “I just wanted to talk to you.” The filly mumbled out. “Rose and Daisy and Daddy were all talking to you and I didn’t get to really.” Glory smiled at Lily, sat up and patted the spot next to her on the couch. “Hop up here and we’ll talk.” In one bound of her powerful little earth pony legs, Lily jumped onto the couch and took a seat next to her mother. “Now what do you want to talk about? Anything special?” Glory was trying to be as warm as she would with any of her foals at home, but it was a lot harder to do. Lily was a different beast entirely from the little orphans back home. There was so much baggage to talk around or steer away from. “Your sister, Aunt Vinyl, is she okay? She doesn’t seem to like me very much.” That was the biggest baggage here next to the guilt, Vinyl and her attitude. Glory had hoped Lily hadn’t noticed the unicorn’s sour mood, but foals are a very perceptive bunch. “Your Aunt Vinyl…” Glory started out, but paused to think for a second. The wrong words, if they got back to Vinyl, would be disastrous. “...she’s had it hard like you did. Our mommy and daddy, your grandma and grandpa, both went away when we were younger. It hurt her a lot and she’s still very sad about it.” That was the most basic jist of it, and it was all Glory was willing to tell Lily at the moment. “She’s getting better, though. That nice guard, Shining? He’s trying to help her be not as sad, and he’s doing a really good job, too.” “He is pretty nice.” Lily smiled. “Rose said she thinks he’s cute.” The filly giggled and put her hooves to her mouth. “But don’t tell him, alright?  Rose’ll be really mad if she finds out I told anypony.” “I promise I won’t tell him.” Glory crossed her heart with her hoof. “Do you want to hear something?” The filly nodded fervently. “Vinyl’s mommy and daddy aren’t my real parents. Kinda like you, her family made me a part of it. Vinyl is a lot like Rose and Daisy for you, and Vinyl’s parents are like your daddy.” “What happened to your real parents? Did they not want you either?” That one hurt a bit, but Glory was willing to look past that seeing as how Lily was little and possessed very little tact. Instead, she would approach the subject lightly. “My...my real mommy went away when I was very little, about your age. My real daddy, well he got very sad after that and he couldn’t take care of me anymore. I had to go live with Vinyl and her parents because my daddy couldn’t love me like he should.” Glory hung her head, memories flooding back into her head all at once. “It’s why I was very sad when you were born. Your real daddy left me all alone and I didn’t think I could love you like I should...so I put you here because I knew Cedar could love you like I couldn’t.” A little lie, but Glory was determined to tell Lily the whole truth when she came of age. “But you’re okay now, right? You’re not sad?” There was a look of desperation in the filly’s eyes. One that Glory could not shake easily. It opened up the once sealed hole in her heart and threatened to swallow her whole.         “I’m still sad...but for different reasons. I’m sad I let you go and I couldn’t keep you. I’m sad I couldn’t hear your first word or see your first steps, or be with you on your first day of school.” Glory sighed. “I think it’s that kind of sad that doesn’t go away, like the one Aunt Vinyl has. We can be happy, but that kind of sad will always be there.” Glory looked over to see Lily starting to cry. “What’s wrong…? Did I upset you?”         “I don’t want you to be sad!” Lily attempted to wrap her hooves around Glory’s barrel, her bottom lip protruding sadly and her eyes starting to gather tears. “I’m okay and now everything’s okay, you’re not supposed to be sad now!” Glory unfurled her wing and wrapped it around her daughter gently. The grown mare was holding back tears of her own now.         “No, no. It’s okay. Shhh.” Glory squeezed Lily a bit tighter with her wing. “It’s okay to be sad sometimes. Because sometimes we need to cry and feel a little sad just so we don’t keep it all inside.” Glory closed her eyes and thought hard about the next words out of her mouth. “I want you to be sad sometimes too, so I know that you’re okay. So I can be there to let you know it’ll be okay. That’s what being sad does, it let’s other ponies know we need help and it’s something you should never be afraid or ashamed of. If you never let anypony know you’re sad, you’ll start doing stuff and you’ll be like Aunt Vinyl. You’ll have to get someone to help you.” Glory leaned down and nuzzled her daughter’s head, breathing in the scent of lilacs in her mane. “I’m not sad anymore because I hurt you, because now I know you’re okay. I’m sad because I wasn’t there for you when you needed me. All the times you cried, I wasn’t there to help. I was never there...and that...that hurts.”         “You’re here now, though.” Lily buried her face into Lily’s side. “You can help me all of the time now.” Glory just didn’t have the heart to tell the little filly that she wouldn’t be here forever, not even in just a week or a few days. Come Monday morning, she was out of Lily’s life again...and that broke her heart into a million little pieces. She couldn’t let Lily know that, she couldn’t hurt her like that right now.         “Yeah, I’m here now.” Glory looked at the pillow that rested against the side of the couch. “Do you want to sleep out here with me tonight? I would really like it if you did.” Glory got a little nod in response, which set the two in motion.         Glory rested on her side, head on the pillow. Lily rested her own head on one of Glory’s legs and buried her muzzle in Glory’s chest. Slowly, the mare draped her wing over her foal and started humming a tune. It was an old lullaby her own mother had sang         Now, well now Glory didn’t feel so sad or so old. She felt content. ----         Cadance hurried through the halls of Canterlot castle, her gold-plated horseshoes striking the solid marble beneath her with such ferocity that each step echoed throughout the entire castle. She had been summoned by Princess Celestia for an emergency meeting, usually this late at night was not the time for such meetings but that only spurred the sense of urgency the summons carried.         The Princess of Love had spent the past few days moping over Shining and her own mistakes. She had tried to get over it, take her mind off of things and get back to normal but that was hard. Shiny had been her normal for so long that now everything felt off. There was nothing to look forward to anymore, no getting done with things just to see Shiny or going on dates. Now she was consumed by royal busywork.         Cadance was still trying to figure out her powers’ place in her identity and how she was supposed to use them. Celestia had said to ‘use them as you see right, make good things happen in the world with them’ but first Cadance had to figure out what good was. Was messing with ponies’ free will and love good? Was the right thing to just leave her powers alone and focus on helping run Equestria with Celestia? Or was she destined for a more personal role with the ponies of the kingdom?         It was all so confusing.         Not as confusing as the sight that greeted the Princess when she finally opened the doors to Celestia’s private quarters. Inside, the Regent of the Sun was surrounded by stacks of paperwork and a very stern looking Interim-Captain Galea. The Captain, and Celestia should’ve been metaphorically ‘off-the-clock’ at this time of night. Plus, all of that paperwork meant they were not messing around.         “Princess Cadance, glad you could join us.” Galea spoke first, giving a polite bow to the monarch. The baby-blue mare turned her steely gaze away from the younger Princess and towards Celestia. “Can I begin now, Your Highness?”                  “Let me address my niece first, then you may.” Galea bowed and trotted away, getting just out of earshot of the two Princesses. “Cadance, usually I wouldn’t bother you with matters such as this, but after recent events I thought it best to include you in the inner-workings of Canterlot. Learning responsibility is often best learned up close and personal. So I need you to listen to Captain Galea, and then you will make a decision, okay?”         “Just me? Alone?” Cadance had made some small minor choices concerning the city in the past. Stuff like parade routes or even small changes in the guard, but never something on this scale. Never something that Celestia would usually do.         “It is how I was taught. I had to make decisions and trust that I was doing the right thing. If you do make a mistake, then you will learn.” Celestia smiled warmly. “I know it sounds harsh, but I truly do think it’s the best way for you to learn the duties of a Princess. I have faith that you will do the right thing.”         Even with the looming sense of dread, Cadance knew she could not disappoint Celestia. So, reluctantly, she nodded and swallowed her nerves. She would do this, even if it did seem like a bad idea to her.         “Captain, please begin with ready.” At Celestia’s call, Galea came back over and stood before the monarchs. The mare stood straight as a mighty oak, and looked thrice as unmovable. She was truly intimidating, which explained why Shining did not like her at all.         “I suppose it’s a good thing you’re here to hear this, Princess Cadance. This will affect you directly, after all.” That did nothing to settle Cadance’s nerves, not one bit. “For the past year I have been conducting an investigation at the behest of Captain Knock Out. I carried it out in secret as to not draw attention, and for that I’m sorry. Even telling either of you might’ve jeopardized the security of the investigation.”         The mare trotted over to one of the stacks of papers and lifted about twenty off of the top and swirled them around the room with her magic. Cadance caught sight of each piece of paper as it floated by. She recognized each of the faces that were printed on the sheets, after all it was her duty to know them.         “Each pony you see before you is guilty of a crime.” Galea started, her voice unwavering. “The have all broken Article Twelve of the Parliamentary Code; they have taken bribes from individuals or corporations that have directly affected the decisions they have made regarding the laws and regulations of Equestria. “         Cadance couldn’t believe it. Almost every member of the House of Nobles had floated in front of her at this point. They had all been guilty of corruption? That was downright unbelievable.         “I see the look of disbelief in your eyes, Princess Cadance.” Galea said, trotting closer to the Princesses. “At first, I couldn’t believe it either. But the evidence is irrefutable and damning. All of it is gathered in the stack by the door, sorted by Parliament member in alphabetical order. If you want time to look through it all, I understand. Something needs to be done about this soon, though. We shouldn’t allow corrupt individuals to run our government, it cannot stand.”         Cadance looked to Celestia, who just returned her gaze and gestured to the Captain. This was it, this was the decision she had to make. Trust Galea on her word and have the corruption removed as quickly as possible, or take who-knows how long to review all of the evidence and hope she could reach the same conclusion as Galea. The thing was, Cadance trusted the guard more than anything. Shining had proven what they were all about, how loyal and hardworking they were. She had to trust Galea on this, she had to do something that would even make Shiny proud of her.         “Very well.” Cadance said, standing tall and using her best authoritative voice. “I trust you’ve done your due diligence on this Interim-Captain Galea, and I’m ordering you to arrest all of these ponies on charges of Corruption as soon as you physically can.” Cadance felt good about that, it felt right.         “I’m afraid there’s a problem with that.” Celestia spoke up, drawing the attention of the other two mares in the room. “Galea, since she’s only the Interim-Captain, has no authority to do such a thing. Until instated as Captain, she cannot arrest any sovereign citizen of Equestria without a majority vote from the members of Parliament.”         What was Cadance supposed to do? The Houses wouldn’t let Galea arrest them, that would be foalish. She would have to catch them by surprise somehow, she would have to get Galea to be Captain before the arrests were made.         “Your Highnesses, if I may.” Galea raised a hoof to speak. Cadance nodded at the smaller mare, willing to hear any ideas she might have. “If you two were to sign all of the warrants tomorrow and make me Captain on Monday morning, we could arrest them all at the ceremony which we know they are required to attend. Celestia ultimately has power over who is the Captain of the Royal guard, after all. Asking Parliament is merely a formality. She could confirm me tomorrow, sign the warrants and we’d be done with this whole nasty mess before the week even began.”         Cadance didn’t know why, but the glimmer she caught in Galea’s eye did not make her feel well.         All of this suddenly felt wrong.