“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
-L.M. Montgomery
Shining Armor was not in a terrible position, he had to admit. He had awoken to this sight only one other time, and he had panicked. A lot had changed since then, and that was an understatement. Now he didn’t feel so bad about waking up with Vinyl in his hooves, in fact it was rather nice.
The only downside to this whole affair was that he was awake with the sun, as was his routine. Vinyl wouldn’t want to be woken up this early, and he couldn’t exactly get up and move around without disturbing her. So he could either go back to sleep. which was an improbability because once he was awake he wasn’t going back to sleep any time soon, or he could just relax.
Yeah, the latter seemed like the best option at the moment.
Plus a little quiet time with his thoughts didn’t seem like a bad thing either. There was much to think about, mainly this thing with Vinyl. Technically guards weren’t allowed to have relationships with with their charges, and if anypony found out he could lose his job. So what to do?
The easiest answer, and perhaps the simplest, was to just keep it hidden. Just keep it on the down low until the end of the rehabilitation process and move on with it afterwards. The second option, and the one that would be a lot more complicated, was to somehow work it into the process. The rulebook never specified what ‘relationship’ meant, so technically even being a friend with Vinyl could be violating the rules. If he could somehow convince someone that the rule was invalid because its wording was too vague and prohibited him from doing a good job maybe he could get away with it. Or Galea would just call him out on it and fire him anyway. That mare did not seem like one to be a smartass around.
As he looked down at Vinyl’s sleeping form, he decided on the former. Easy and simple, no jeopardizing it or anything. That seemed like the right course of action, just to keep it quiet and wait til this all was over for the right moment.
There was another problem he had just thought of: his family. At this point Cadance was like a daughter to them already, and Twilight was infatuated with the Princess. How would he explain the breakup to them? How could he tell them that after all of these years, Cadance was not going to be around anymore? Would they be mad at him?
He really hoped they would understand, and he was sure his parents would. It was Twily that worried him the most. She was the excitable sort that always got herself worked up over the small things. This was a very big thing that impacted the little filly directly, and only Celestia knew how she would take it.
The stallion sighed and rested his chin on the top of Vinyl’s head. There was always something to plan or something to worry about, and it was starting to exhaust him as of late. If it was what being an adult meant, he wished he could avoid that title for a little bit longer.
“Y’okay…” A very tired voice said from below. He felt Scratch stir, and more importantly felt her horn dig into his throat. That elicited a little grunt of pain from him, to which Vinyl reacted and moved it so her pointy appendage was resting on the side of his throat. “Sorry, I’m kinda sharp…”
“It’s okay.” Shining said quietly, hoping he hadn’t woken Vinyl up all of the way. He did not need to deal with a cranky Scratch this early. “And yeah, I’m good. I was just thinking.” He didn’t want to worry her either with his problems, after all they were his to deal with.
“What time is it?” The sleepy mare questioned as she buried her head into his chest. “I’m gonna guess ‘too early to be awake.’” He smiled at that, it was good to know her sarcasm knew no bounds. Not even sleep could keep Vinyl’s silver tongue back.
“Yeah, you’re about right.” Shining admitted, wrapping his hooves around Vinyl a little tired. “Go back to sleep and I’ll wake you up when it gets a bit later, okay?” One magenta eye stared up at him through a tangle of blue mane. There was no malice in the look, or even annoyance. There was peace,
“Okay…” Shining felt a small, tender kiss at the base of his neck as Vinyl settled back to sleep. Eh, maybe he would join her. Sure, he couldn’t usually get back to sleep but today was a new day. Anything was possible.
----
Princess Cadance rubbed her eyes and yawned as she looked out of her window. The sun was beginning to rise, and with it a new day. Had she really been up all night reviewing the stacks of evidence? She could’ve sworn it had only been an hour or two at most.
The reading had been engrossing, she had to give Galea that. Every connection, from bank account statements to written affidavits from disgruntled accountants or even written correspondence from nobles themselves that had no doubt intercepted and duplicated by the Interim-Captain. They all pointed to guilt on almost all of the nobles involved, there were only a few she had problems with because the evidence was loose or vague enough for the pony in question to put up a legitimate fight in court.
As far as she could tell, all of the elder members of the House of Nobles was in this pile except for one: Twilight Satin. She was the one Noble in all of Canterlot who had no evidence against her, who was evidently incorruptible.
While Cadance knew Twilight Satin personally and had even admired the cantankerous old mare, she couldn’t believe that. Galea had something on everypony else, even the flimsiest piece of evidence was in the files for consideration. But nothing on Satin?
That left only two possibilities; either Satin was smart enough to never leave a paper trail over her forty plus years in the House, or Galea had neglected to even investigate the Twilight Matriarch. Both were extremely probable, and both carried the same amount of implications. Cadance couldn’t just order the arrest on suspicion of guilt, she had to have something concrete...which she didn’t. If Galea had purposefully neglected Satin, then it meant even the future Captain was corrupted to some extent. Either Satin had paid Galea off, or there was some sort of understanding between them.
“What do I do…?” Cadance lamented as she put her head in her hooves. She couldn’t just ignore an incongruity like that, it would look extremely bad if the public ever found out. But just confronting Galea about it seemed like a bad idea as well. Mainly because Cadance did not enjoy speaking with the Interim-Captain, the unicorn made her feel so small and inconsequential. “What would Shiny do…?”
That was the golden question that plagued her every decision now, and it really made her angry. Her bar for a good decision-maker had been the one to decide that she wasn’t good enough or responsible enough to even date. How could she do something like this if she wasn’t even trusted to keep another pony’s heart safe?
No, she couldn’t think like that anymore. Shining Armor wasn’t in the picture anymore, he couldn’t occupy this much of thinking. She needed someone else to use as her example...she needed to use Celestia as her bar for decision making. After all, the Princess of the Sun was always logical and stalwart in her ideas.
“Okay, so what would Celestia do?” That was a complicated question. What would Celestia do? Thinking back to all of the little talks the two alicorns had usually pointed to one central theme: do what’s right for Equestria, and if you make a mistake you have to accept it and try to change it.
What was right for Equestria was pretty obvious. The corruption in the government had to be cut away and reforms needed to be made. Bickering with Galea for an unknown amount of time would only throw chaos into the mix, chaos that couldn’t be afforded a hoofhold in the plans. Nor could she have Satin arrested with the rest of them. So what option was left?
“Do nothing.” She said in a small realization to herself. It was the only course of action she could think of that didn’t impede or muddy the plans. It was the most simple solution. If the public questioned it, then she would defer to Captain Galea who would undoubtedly have an answer for it. Simplistic, and it would alleviate Cadance of some of the responsibility.
Now that particular annoyance was quashed, Cadance had to admit that this was all pretty impressive. How long this must’ve taken to figure out and put together was unimaginable, and for one pony? If anything that itself was proof of how deserving Galea was of the position of Captain. It showed that the mare certainly had an inequine drive to get a job done, which was almost necessary for the guard.
“Enough thinking.” Cadance told herself as she stood up, her knees popping as they straightened. “I think I need to get a little rest at least.” Literally only Celestia knew what the rest of the day would hold. Cadance could only hope the announcement of Galea’s impending inauguration went over well.
----
“Hey Twinkle, wake up.” Vinyl kicked her compatriot lightly with her hoof. The lazy bum hadn’t woken up earlier in the morning, not even when she had gotten up. Not even the sound of the shower had roused the guard out of his slumber. “Dummy.” Again, she pushed him with her hoof. “For Celestia’s sake…” Vinyl grumbled in frustration at the ever-resting nuisance.
Then an idea struck her, a rather good idea if she was to be honest. She could get back at him for that stunt he had pulled last week where he jumped on her bed to wake her up. But what could she do, what would rouse Twinkle from his rest faster than anything else?
“Oh, this is going to be good.” Vinyl said with a smile as the idea struck her. She would have to summon her some very authoritative mannerisms, but she would be able to do that easily. The mare took in a deep breath and yelled in her best, booming voice.
“GET UP GUADSPONY! YOU’RE LATE FOR YOUR PATROL!”
In damn near an instant, Twinkle was on his hooves and latching the gold-plated armor on as if it was second nature. It wasn’t until he was putting on his helmet that he stopped and looked around the room.
Vinyl couldn’t help it once his eyes fell on her, as soon as she saw that shocked expression turn to realization she burst out laughing. How could she not? It was hilarious to see Twinkle freak out like that!
“What the hell, Scratch?!” The stallion yelled out in frustration. “That’s not funny, making me think I’m on the clock. For Celestia’s sake, we’re supposed to be relaxing and you go and panic me like that!” What made it funnier was the seriousness in his voice, it was like he took offense to it or something.
S-Sorry, Twinkle. I just saw an opportunity and had to take it.” Vinyl said between giggle fits. “I mean, you got me up last week by jumping on my bed. I think this is pretty good payback.” Vinyl just grinned as she stared at the guard. “I mean, c’mon. We’re even now.”
“Fine.” Shining grumbled out. “As long as we’re even and you promise to never do that again.” Perhaps she had actually struck a nerve for the first time, but that made it all the better. Now she really knew how to get under his skin, and no feelings for him would make that any less promising.
“Me?” Vinyl said as she put a hoof to her chest. “Why I would never be annoying and infuriating, you know that Shining.” She even used his real name in her faux innocence to really sell the act. It seemed to have worked, because Twinkle cracked a more neutral expression.
“Yeah, yeah.” He waved off the act. “What time is it? How late did I sleep?” Asking the important questions as always. Not ‘how did you sleep, Vinyl?’ or ‘What’s the plan for today?’
“It’s about ten, I think.” Vinyl lit up her horn and used her magic to fix her mane the way she liked it. “These damn rooms don’t have clocks, so I’m going by the one in the lobby. I might be a bit off, so don’t take my word for it.” Vinyl didn’t know how long her shower had taken, so it could be ten-thirty by now and she would be none the wiser.
“I really overslept.” Twinkle groaned as he started to take off his armor. “I was hoping to get out and about before now, but I guess we’ll just have to roll with the punches.” Vinyl smiled as Twinkle seemingly talked to himself, it was just one of those things that he did that she had picked up on. He really liked to think aloud. “We’ll go grab something for breakfast and go see Lily and Glory.” He turned towards Vinyl and nodded. “Sound good?”
“I can’t say no to free food.” Vinyl smirked, trying to hide the fact that she really was hungry for about anything.
“Free food?” Shining questioned as he trotted by her. “Who says I’m paying for your meal, Scratch?” The stallion went into the bathroom and started to fix his mane and smooth his coat. Vinyl leaned against the doorframe and just watched idly.
“I did. Now let’s get going, you can shower when we get back.” Vinyl opened the door that left the room and held it open for Shining. “C’mon pretty boy.” She motioned for him to leave the room, which he did after huffing and briefly glancing at the shower. “This is a town of earth ponies, Twinkle. I’m sure they won’t mind if you have a few smidgens of dirt on you.” Vinyl shut the door behind them and started down the hall.
The duo moved through the hotel in relative silence, making sure to get through the lobby without alerting the little filly behind the desk. They got through unscathed and made it into the small village beyond. After a short time walking, they came across this queer looking building that looked as if it was made of gingerbread and frosting. The sign on the door advertised breakfast and coffee, something that Vinyl would not object to.
The interior of the building was as sickly sweet as the outside, candy etchings and white frosting-like paint adding to the various overhangs that separated each section of the store. Directly opposite the door there was a glass case filled with all kinds of cakes-both of the cup variety and regular-and pies of the like. It all looked positively mouth watering, but nothing looked as good as the shining silver coffee maker that sat just behind the counter. Vinyl could practically smell the glorious dark nectar from across the room.
“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! What can I do you for?” A tall, lanky yellow stallion appeared on the other side of the glass case, his bright green eyes shining from just below a shaggy orange mane barely covered by a white and red paper cap. “All of our breakfast pastries are half off until noon, by the way. Quite the deal if I do say so myself.”
Vinyl practically raced across the floor and put her two front hooves on top of the glass case. She looked at the various doughnuts, kolaches, and croissants that all sat on the top shelf. How could she decide between them all? They all looked equally delicious!
“Good morning, sir.” Twinkle trotted up to the counter with a smile. “Tell you what, we’ll take you up on that offer and I’ll take two of those kolaches, a cup of coffee and….Vinyl?”
“Yeah, I’ll take a cup of joe too, and give me one of those long maple frosted doughnuts.” She paused and eyed her choice curiously. “Those are the ones with filling in them, right?” She didn’t like the ones without custard in them, they were only filled with lies and disappointment.
“Yes ma’am, they certainly are!” The stallion smiled and started writing something on a notepad in front of him, his mouth working on both writing and mumbling. “Two kolaches...one maple longjohn, and two cups of coffee…” He did a quick bit of thinking, jotted something down and spit the pencil out of his mouth. “That’ll be twelve bits.” Twinkle pulled the small pouch from around his neck and produced the required amount and sat it on the case. “Thank you, sir.”
“Real quick-” Shining interjected before the stallion could pick up the currency. “-do you have a copy of the Canterlot Post I could read? Sorry, I’m a bit of a news junkie.” Vinyl rolled her eyes at the request, leave it to Twinkle to bother somepony for a newspaper.
“I think I actually have one in back.” The stallion replied. “Tell you what, go have a seat and I’ll get your stuff out to you with a copy of The Post in a jiffy!” Shining nodded and ushered Vinyl towards a booth in the next room over. They both sat down across from each other and waited patiently.
Less than a minute later, surely within the confines of ‘a jiffy’, a pony appeared from the backroom. It wasn’t the stallion that had taken their order, though. Instead it was a small pink filly with a equally pink wild mane. On her head, she carried a platter with two mugs of steaming coffee, a few baked goods and a folded up newspaper. The filly bounced, yes literally bounced, across the floor until she came to rest at their table.
“Helloooo!” The filly said giddily as she put the tray on the table. “I think you guys are really gonna like the coffee! The coffee is my favorite part!” Judging by the small rhythmic bouncing the filly was constantly doing, Vinyl fully believed that. “Ooh, ooh and the Kolaches have strawberries and blueberries in them! I call them the ‘Colorblinds’ because Mr. Cake has a really hard time telling the difference between red and blue when they’re really close together, and one day he accidentally put the blueberry and strawberry filling together and it was actually really delicious!”
“Uhh….thanks?” Vinyl said awkwardly. How were you supposed to respond to that? “You...have a good day.”
“You too!” The filly replied excitedly and bounced away as fast as she had appeared. Was this whole town infested with fillies with personality disorders? Because it really seemed that way at this point.
“Well she was interesting.” Twinkle said as he picked up a sugar packet and his paper. “I just hope that everypony we meet isn’t as interesting as her.” The stallion poured the sugar in the mug, defiling his coffee with the powdered substance. Vinyl simply sneered and picked up her untainted mug and drank from it.
As soon as Twinkle unfolded the paper fully, he seemed to freeze in place. His coffee mug sat in midair and his gaze was fixed on the paper in front of him. The mare raised her hoof wand waved it, she even tried to move the paper with her own magic to no avail. With no other choice, she got up and looked at the paper to see what he was gawking at.
In the biggest font imaginable, plastered across the biggest and most respected paper in Equestria, was the headline she did not expect to read.
PRINCESS CONFIRMS GALEA’S NOMINATION: INAUGURATION TO BE HELD MONDAY MORNING
“Wow.” Vinyl blinked, trying to take it in. “Gonna be honest with you, Twinkle. I did not expect her to actually become Captain. At least the old guy seemed kinda nice, I don’t really get that vibe from the ice queen.” Even Galea’s picture, displayed just below the headline, her face not betraying how she usually came across: like a stone cold killer.
“Yeah…” Shining finally uttered out. “I...I wasn’t expecting that either.” He sat the paper down and picked up the coffee cup, taking a single sip out of it. The stallion was in a daze, as if the news had broken him on some level. “Why...why did Celestia confirm her personally? Why didn’t the House of Nobles…? Why hold the inauguration so soon?” Vinyl could practically see all of the cogs in Shining’s head turning, and they were all moving towards a predictable finale. “Something’s wrong in Canterlot.”
“What do you mean?” Vinyl might have had a lot of heartbreak in Canterlot, but it was still her home city and she cared deeply about it. If something was wrong, then she wanted to know. She still had friends and family there, and they had to be okay.
“Nothing short of an emergency could cause Celestia to do something like this.” Shining closed his eyes and sighed. “I know trouble when it’s laid out, and this is nothing but.” The stallion opened his eyes once again and looked Vinyl dead in the eyes. “We need to leave for Canterlot as soon as possible.”
“Whoa whoa, slow down Twinkle.” Vinyl pushed Shining to the side and scooched into the booth next to him. “I’m kinda worried too, but let’s not jump the gun here. We still have business here, remember? Sky, Lily, Cedar...me? I mean, I’m pretty much good at this point, I know she’s safe and that’s all I needed, but we still have to make right with Sky.” Vinyl had come all of this way, she was not going to turn back because of an alarmist headline.
“Right…” Shining sighed and nodded. “We’ll get this sorted out first…” Vinyl could tell he was disappointed. Twinkle’s inner protector was telling him something was wrong and needed to be done, but his other responsibility wouldn’t let him. It was probably tearing him apart inside.
“Hey…” She used her magic to turn the stallion to look at her. “...I promise, we’ll leave as soon as possible tomorrow morning, alright?” Shining’s eyes were filled with an inescapable sadness, a desire to to protect and investigate. It was ignoring a calling, Vinyl could see that, and it had to hurt like hell. “Alright?” She posited again.
“Yeah, okay.” Shining turned back to the table and closed the paper. The stallion took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Vinyl was waiting for something, tears or anger or anything really, what she wasn’t expecting was for the smile to come out and the chipper tone of his voice. “Now let’s eat, huh? I have a feeling we’ll need all of the energy we can get for today.” It was a good attempt, just like after Cadance and him had split in her living room, but just like that time Vinyl could see through the veil. Twinkle was putting aside all of his personal feelings, all of the nasty stuff that would slow him down, just for the sake of helping Vinyl.
It hurt a little bit more each time she thought about it.
The duo ate their meal and drank their coffee in peace, both not willing or wanting to speak. Both of them had stuff on their minds on which they didn’t want to voice in such a public space, it would come up once they were alone in their hotel room later.
After they were done, they exited the establishment and made a beeline for Cedar’s home. Sadly, the place was currently abandoned. However, a note upon the door directed them to a place just outside of town: Sweet Apple Acres.
“I’ve heard of the place once or twice.” Twinkle commented, tapping the note with his hoof. “There’s a family of earth ponies who try to sell cider from there in Canterlot Square like every year.”
“Are we talking regular cider or hard cider?” Vinyl wouldn’t mind picking up a little something to drink while they were out at the orchard. In fact, such a thing was a near certain possibility if they had any of the good stuff ready to go.
“Both.” Shining put the note back on the door and started off back into town. “My parents got me some of their hard cider for my first legal drink. It was actually pretty good, if you’re into cider.” Twinkle turned to Vinyl. “I’m more of a rum guy, myself. So I thought it was just okay, couldn’t let my parents know I already had preferences or anything.”
“You drank before you were legal?” Vinyl said with a scoff. “Yeah right, Twinkle. You know you don’t have to impress me or anything right? Plus, the ‘bad boy’ act is pretty retro, even for you.” Vinyl instinctively reached for her sunglasses to put them on, but found her favorite accessory to be absent. That wasn’t going to be any fun on a clear day like this.
“What’s that supposed to mean, Scratch?” Twinkle jibed. “You don’t think I’m capable of breaking the rules or something?” The stallion puffed out his chest in some display of machismo, making Vinyl roll her eyes.
“I’m just saying I would probably see you in a malt shop a lot sooner than I would in a liquor store.” Vinyl shot back, adding a sly smirk to her words. “Probably waiting for your ‘number one gal’ or something to meet you and do the twist at the ol’ Sockhop.” Vinyl imitated the ancient dance move she had referenced, which cause the stallion to laugh heartily.
“Okay, three things-” Twinkle said with a stray chuckle. “One: do you really want to bring up malts again? I mean, you’re free to be wrong all you want but I’m eventually going to get tired of winning that argument.” That earned yet another eye roll from Vinyl. “Two: I’ve been in liquor stores before, okay? It’s not like I was the perfect kid or something. And Three: I feel like on top of calling me lame, you’re also calling me old. Which, I mean, I’m only three years older than you.”
“Okay…” Vinyl said, turning her neck until she got a satisfying *pop* from it. “One: I told you before, you’re wrong about malts so we’re not getting into it. Two: Don’t make me laugh. Three: You act like you’re twenty years older than me, you had it coming.”
“It’s called maturity, Scratch. You should try it sometime.” This was the kind of back and forth that Vinyl lived for. The quickfire witty jabs that neither of them meant seriously made spending time with the guard that much more fun.
“You can talk to me about maturity when you actually get laid, Twinkle.” Vinyl increased her speed, passing the guard and making sure her tail brushed against his chin as she passed. She figured, why not rub it in just a little bit more. It might elicit a better response from the stallion.
“Well...I...uh…” There it was, the stammer. Another W in the argument department for Vinyl Scratch! She was seriously beginning to wonder if Twinkle would ever be able to best her in one of these or if she was just destined to roll over him every time. Price of being a smartass, really.
The walk to Sweet Apple Acres from that point on was silent. Vinyl would describe it as a very intense silence, at least for Twinkle. The poor guy was still blushing and flustered even after fifteen minutes of walking. It was a little reassuring to know she could shut him up so quickly and effectively, it meant she had some pretty good leverage.
“I think we’re here…” Twinkle finally spoke out after the passed a large wooden gate that served as a threshold to the Apple orchard. Vinyl looked around and turned back to her guard.
“What gave it away, all of the apple trees?” She gestured to the trees filled with dangling red fruit. “But yeah, we’re here and now we need to find Sky somehow.” How were they supposed to find one pony in literally acres of apple trees? It was like finding a pegasus in a flock of Griffons.
“Well, I suppose we should find somepony and ask if they’ve seen her or Cedar.” After he spoke, a loud thud echoed around the area, and a distant tree shook as if a train had struck it. One by one, the ponies saw the apples fall from the branches and into the orchard below. “I’d say we found our pony.” The stallion veered of of the trail towards the shaken tree, leaving Vinyl to follow behind.
“Either that or a bull with something against fruit.” Vinyl remarked. She had never seen a tree shake like that from a pony before. What kind of pony would be able to do that? “Oh…” She had her answer as the passed around a surprisingly large tree and saw a likewise surprisingly large red colt in front of the tree they had seen. “That’s a big pony…”
“Hey, excuse me!” Twinkle trotted towards the red earth pony with a smile, one that the stranger did not return. “I was wondering if I could get your help with something.” Even Twinkle was no match in stature for the younger pony. The stranger wasn’t much taller than the guard, but the height advantage was still there and that alone made Vinyl uneasy.
“Ah suppose ah could help ya.” The pony said in a slow drawl. “What’cha’ll need?” While an interesting accent Vinyl didn’t get to hear often, she also wished it came from a pony a little more enthused.
“We’re looking for some ponies that are supposed to be helping out here. Skyward Glory and Cedar Mulch?” Twinkle held out his hoof. “I’m Shining Armor and this is Vinyl Scratch, by the way.”
“Big Macintosh, s’a pleasure ta meet ya.” Well the name was certainly fitting, Vinyl could give Macintosh that. The colt took Twinkle’s hoof and gave it a hearty shake that almost tore the guard’s whole front leg off. “Ah think ah know where they’re at, eeyup.” The shaggy maned earth pony looked around the orchard and settled on a direction, pointing into the endless rows of trees. “Head thataway and y’all should reach ‘em real quick.”
“Alright, well thank you very much Big Macintosh. I appreciate the help.” Shining nodded and smiled, turning towards the way Macintosh was still pointing. “We should be able to find them now.”
“Oh, and if y’all see my sister Applejack around let ‘er know ah need to talk to her.” The behemoth added before turning back to the tree. “You’ll know ‘er when ya see ‘er. She’ll talk yer ear off as soon as she sees ya.”
“Great…” Vinyl muttered as she followed Twinkle away from Macintosh. The sound of powerful hooves striking trees growing all the more distant as they moved on.
It wasn’t that Vinyl wasn’t personable. Well, she really wasn’t when it came down to it, but it was different with these country ponies. They were all slow and respectful and polite, like sloths that had taken cotillion. Her personality just didn’t mesh well with that.
“Well, at least we have a direction now. Shouldn’t be too long, and we’ll get some bonding going with you and your family.” Shining looked towards Vinyl. “Nothing brings ponies together like some good old fashioned hard work.”
“Yeah.” Vinyl replied in a deadpan voice. “I can’t wait.”
Lucky for her enthusiasm, it was quite a while before they saw any other ponies. When they finally did, it was just the group they had been looking for. Cedar was teaching the fillies how to properly kick the trees to get apples down, while Sky was busy picking the apples off of the branches while flying around. Thankfully they saw no sign of any farm ponies, especially the one that might talk their ears off.
“Vinyl! Shining!” Sky was the first to spot them with the help of her bird’s eye view. The pegasus promptly flew down to their level and landed gracefully, immediately pulling Vinyl into a hug as she did so. “It’s good to see you! We didn’t know if you two would come all the way out here or not.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Vinyl questioned, with no small amount of malicious suspicion.
“Well, I just thought you might’ve been done with all of this after yesterday. After all, you seemed pretty anxious to leave yesterday.” That made Vinyl’s temper absolutely flair. She had needed time to process all of this, to think about what she wanted out of the situation. Excuse her for wanting some time to think critically about something. She wouldn’t get into that now, though. She wouldn’t argue around the fillies or Cedar, after all they needed to seem a little functional at least.
“No, you’re right.” Vinyl said calmly, almost too calmly. It visibly put both Shining and Sky on edge, after all Vinyl was not a calm pony. “I just wanted to drop by and talk to Lily for a second. Wanted to tell her a few things before we leave.”
“Leave? What are you talking about?” Sky looked to Shining, who looked equally perplexed. “We’re not supposed to leave until morning.”
“Well things have changed.” Vinyl shot back, failing to withhold the venom from her words. “Apparently some stuff is going down in Canterlot and we need to go back today so Twinkle can deal with it.” Shining stood completely still, trying to not look guilty of anything and failing spectacularly. “So I’m going to go talk to Lily, and then you can go say goodbye to her again.” Vinyl marched over to Cedar, who looked up with his usual stoic expression.
“Afternoon, Vinyl Scratch.” He motioned towards his fillies. “Girls, stop for a moment so I can speak, please.” At his urging, the fillies stopped their bucking of the tree and sat on their haunches. “What do you need?”
“I’m going to talk to Lily, alright? I’ll just be a minute.” She softened her voice for Cedar, as to not broadcast the turmoil currently flowing through her. “Just let me do it, Cedar.”
“Alright, I’ll give you two a few minutes alone.” He turned towards the fillies. “Daisy, Rose come along now. Ms. Vinyl Scratch wants to talk with Lily for a bit and they need some personal space.” The twins, at their father’s behest, got up and trotted away with the stallion. They both looked at their solitary sister forlornly as they left the area.
“Hey Lily.” Vinyl spoke softly as she approached the filly and sat next to her. “How are you doing?” While Vinyl’s inner fire was still raging, she was keeping a calm demeanor outside. The last thing she wanted was to scare the filly away.
“Good, but my hooves hurt from kicking all of the trees.” Lilly rubbed one of her back hooves, frowning at her little appendage.
“Lucky for me, I have my horn to do all of the hard stuff for me, huh?” Vinyl picked up an apple in her magic, tossing it up in the air and catching it deftly. “But hey, it’s not all that bad. You get that insane earth pony strength. I’m just a weak little unicorn.” Vinyl was trying to connect with self-deprecating humor, the way she did with everypony else. It didn’t seem to be working, though. Lily just looked to the side and said nothing. “Anyways, I just wanted to tell you some stuff that I didn’t yesterday.”
“Like what?” Lily asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Well...I want you to know that it’s okay not to forgive somepony, even if they say they’re sorry.” Maybe a callous lesson, but Vinyl felt that Lily was a pony who needed to hear it. “If…” How could she explain this to a foal? It was not exactly simple subject matter. “If somepony makes you really sad, it’s okay not to forgive them. Like, you...you…” Now that Vinyl was actually sitting down and trying to talk it out, it all seemed so heartless.
It all seemed so cruel to tell a filly it was okay to hate as long as it was justified. Why was Vinyl even doing this, to get back at Glory for an offhand comment she didn’t mean? Vinyl lowered her head and shook it, trying to figure out some way to even possibly salvage this.
“It’s okay.” The small voice came closer to Vinyl. “Mommy told me last night that you’re sad because you’re parents left you all alone like Mommy did with me.” Vinyl’s heart broke in two even hearing that from such a young pony. “It’s okay to be sad, but you gotta try to be happy sometimes too. You gotta try to think of all of the things that make you happy, like your favorite flowers or a silly song or something. Because, when you think of all of the good things, the bad things don’t look really bad anymore.”
Tears started to form at the corners of Vinyl’s eyes, which was a common occurrence these days. She raised a hoof to wipe the offending things away, but a much smaller hoof stopped her. The unicorn looked up just in time to get caught in a hug by her niece.
“You gotta try to be happy, or else you won’t ever stop being sad.”
That broke Vinyl. She took Lily in one of the deepest, gentlest hugs she had ever given and nearly resolved to never let go. She had made a terrible mistake trying to do this, and now she was sorry.