//------------------------------// // 365 Part 2 // Story: A Scratch On Shining Armor: Bad Moon Rising // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------// Still Three Hundred and Sixty-Five days until the next Summer Sun Celebration The raising of the sun, the main attraction, the single thing that brought all of these ponies from all over the world together. It was always a sight to behold. Princess Celestia knew how to make it an event to remember. Golden laurels on each side of the stage flanked the alicorn and would frame the rising sun. The monarch’s cutie mark was emblazoned on great banners in front of and above the display. It wasn’t ostentatious, it was regal and ceremonial. Princess Celestia stepped onto the stage, her gilded hooves clicking against the painted wood. Not a single pony cheered, they never did. It was a revered silence for an ancient tradition that encompassed the very ideals that many instilled in the foundation of Equestria: magic, control of nature, and a great uniting of Equestria’s ponies. The monarch stood in the middle of the stage, the brilliant colors of the eager dawn dancing behind her. The moon hung opposite the stage, ignored behind the mass of ponies watching their ruler. With a single beat of her powerful wings, Celestia was thrust into the air. Her horn lit and the gathering held their breath. “How is this always so amazing?” Vinyl whispered to Shining, leaning in close as to not disturb the others around them. “It’s like so serene and just…I don’t think I can go to Ponyville with you. I’d just rather head straight back home, y’know?” Shining blinked. The stage was gone, Celestia and the crowd nowhere to be seen. The sun was now high in the sky, and instead of the city center, Vinyl and Shining were now at Baltimare’s train depot and standing on the platform. “I’m…uh…” His own hoof went to his head and he sighed. “W-what were we talking about, Vinyl?” He hated these lapses, how helpless and confused they left him. How many hours had passed? What had happened during them? It was nothing but a giant gap in his memories that he could never fill in properly. Precious time lost with Vinyl that he could never get back. “Hey, you okay, Twinkle?” A light hoof touched his side worriedly. He shook his head and opted not to meet Scratch’s eyes. “Another blackout?” Shining could only nod, he couldn’t speak because he was still trying to get his head straight. “For Celestia’s sake, really? That’s like two times in twenty-four hours.” He could see her body tense and then relax as she let out a deep and frustrated sigh. “What’s the last thing you remember?” “Princess Celestia…just about to raise the sun.” The thick and persistent fog kept him from even recalling most of that. He finally raised his eyes to look at the unicorn next to him. Her eyes were filled with worry and fear, wide and energetic in the most terrified ways. “They’re getting worse,” Vinyl stated flatly. “We need to get you back to Canterlot and talk to your sister, or Celestia or a doctor or something.” Her gentle hoof on his side turned into a pull on his front leg. “Seriously, this isn’t okay.” “Vinyl.” Shining pulled his leg away from the mare and stopped. She stopped just ahead of him and turned around. “I’ve been planning this for weeks, I need to go to Ponyville and talk to that ‘Sweetie Drops’ pony.” The last thing that his grandmother, Twilight Satin, had asked of him. It was her dying wish and he had to grant it, even if he didn’t like her as a pony. ‘It wasn’t an accident’ was the message he was supposed to deliver, along with a storage unit location and combination to open it. Shining had, of course, investigated the storage unit before he turned the contents over to anypony. It was full of boxes, which were, in turn, full of files. It was a mass of information on ponies throughout Canterlot that would make DEqI jealous, and it only made him more curious as to who this Sweetie Drops pony was. “Shining.” He sighed when Vinyl used his actual name instead of her pet name for him, it meant she was serious. “You blacked out for seven hours. I am seriously worried about you. What if this happens when you’re in Ponyville and I’m not there with you? Huh? You could get hurt or worse, and then I would kill you myself.” “Then come with me,” Shining offered. It wasn’t that he wasn’t worried. No, he was scared to death of these moments when he blacked out. It was just that he felt an intense sense of duty for family, even the dead and disliked. “It’s nothing, Vinyl. A few hours and we won’t go anywhere near Cedar’s or the hospital.” That was the reason that Vinyl wouldn’t go, Lily and Skyward Glory. They had talked about it in the past and Vinyl just didn’t trust herself. She felt like she would be compelled to go see her niece and sick sister if she went, and she didn’t want that situation anywhere near her. Shining understood, but he also understood the importance of getting this done and over with. “I-I can’t and I won’t.” He could see the fight behind those magenta eyes. The very equine need to forgive and seek forgiveness battling with all that was Vinyl, all of the hate and anger and despair that had forced them both together. That very equine need was losing to the mare’s damn near indomitable stubbornness.”If you want to do this, Twinkle…I can’t really stop you. But, y’know, I love you and I worry about you, especially with this stuff.” Behind all of the jokes, behind the good-natured ribbing and arguments, Shining knew that there was true deep love between them. There was an amount of care and love between them that was so special. “I’ll be back before nightfall, alright?” He took her hoof in his own, stroking it and smiling. “I promise, I’ll even keep my journal out the entire time.” It was a small promise, but all he had to give her on this matter was his word. “Talk is cheap, dummy.” Vinyl pushed him away gently and took her hoof back. “I want results. Got it, guardspony?” He chuckled and gave his marefriend a salute. “Yes, Ma’am.” “Hey, save the ‘Ma’am’ stuff for the bedroom.” Vinyl’s response turned the stallion’s face bright red and made his pulse pound in his ears. “That’s what I thought.” Her voice turned gentle again, kind and loving. “Now get going and hurry home.” Ponyville was a downright pedestrian distance from Baltimare compared to Canterlot. The trip from the city where the celebration was being held to the capital was three hours to Manehatten, a one hour layover at the terminal there, and then another two hours to Canterlot itself. Baltimare to Ponyville was a measly hour and some change. Usually Baltimare to Ponyville and then Canterlot was a better route, but the small hamlet wasn’t nearly prepared to accept crowds that size travelling through it to get to Canterlot, so most of the heavy passenger laden cars were diverted along an alternate path. So at least Shining Armor didn’t have much time to dwell on anything of major importance. It did help that he was actively keeping his mind busy with other things as well, like the problem Twily had brought to him about rapid barrier expansion. He was a little out of practice when it came to defense spells, but as they were his specialty and the whole reason he earned his cutie mark, it all came back to him rather quickly. The main issue with expanding the area of any sort of magical field was maintaining uniform strength and permanence throughout. Not to mention, the larger the surface area you had to focus on, the more draining it would be. The drain wouldn’t even be on the unicorn’s own magic pool, it would be on the mind. You could easily create oscillating layers that bled off excess energy into the interior of the barrier for the user to recycle and keep it going for as long as they could stand. The mind, though. A pony’s mind is complex and wonderful and can handle so much, but pumping out that much magic that fast while focusing on the intense patterns that barriers require would send even the best unicorns to their knees. It was certainly a puzzle, one he would continue to try and solve. Now, though, the train’s whistle blew and signalled it was time for him to disembark. He stood and grabbed his duffle bag from the seat next to him and made his way to the exit. Ponyville was just as idyllic as it had always been. Clear skies, happy ponies, and just the quaintest village you would ever see. He let the small group of ponies that were on the train with him pass by him and converse about whatever they wanted, letting them get far enough away so he could think. Sweetie Drops. With a name like that, Shining had to assume she worked as some sort of confectioner or baker of some sort. Unless it was a misnomer, in which case he would be searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack. For now, logic would dictate his course. His first stop would be that place he and Vinyl visited their last time here, Sugarcube Corner. ---- The train that pulled up to Baltimare’s train station heading for Manehatten was not what Vinyl expected. Maybe it was the white and gold car decorated with banners that functioned as the caboose. Maybe it was the fact that Princess Celestia herself was the first passenger to be escorted from the platform to the train itself. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that she had somehow been seen by the monarch and was now sitting in that very odd caboose with the princess of the sun. Yeah, it was probably that last part. “I hope you do not mind too much, Vinyl Scratch. I wanted some company and when I saw a friendly face, I had to invite you to sit with me.” Celestia sat on an overly large purple cushion in the middle of the train car, while Vinyl sat opposite her in a high-backed white and gold chair. “Hey, you won’t catch me complaining.” Vinyl shrugged and removed her glasses, setting them on a table beside her. “I’d rather be here with somepony I know than packed into one of the other cars with whiny foals and tourists.” She could empathize with Celestia’s need for a friendly face. “Where is Shining Armor? Is he staying back in Baltimare for something? Work?” The monarch lifted a cookie of some sort, it looked like chocolate chip, from a plate near her. “It has been such a long time since I have seen you without him, that I must say it’s quite odd.” A lighthearted chuckle from the alicorn made Vinyl smile. “Ponyville, actually.” Vinyl responded, taking one of the cookies for herself as well. “His grandma asked him to talk to somepony there before she croaked.” She figured that Twinkle would fill her in when he got back home and he had learned whatever it was Satin had wanted him to deliver. “I have a question, Vinyl.” Okay, it seemed like that specific thread was done with for now. Far be it from Vinyl to dictate a conversation with Celestia, but a little segue would’ve been nice or at least helpful. “Shoot.” “It has been quite a while since everything happened with Cadance.” And now Vinyl really regretted saying ‘shoot’. This topic was enough of a death sentence. “I must ask, what do you think of Cadance now? Do you forgive her?” “Well…” Vinyl did her best to quell the bevy of emotions that bubbled up in her brain. It was a complicated question, one she had thought about a lot during countless sleepless nights. If she had that kind of power like Cadance did, would she do things differently? What would she do? The answer was ‘nothing good’ and she knew it. “…I still don’t forgive her for messing with my head, or trying to wipe me from Twinkle’s. That stuff is just so…cruel. It’s, I don’t know, self-serving and blind to everything that we’re taught. But, I guess, she’s just a pony, right? I’d be lying if I said I’d be virtuous if I could do the stuff she can.” “I see.” Celestia nodded and sat her half-eaten treat back on the table beside her. “You see her as just another pony?” There was a strange curiosity that came with Celestia’s tone and posture at that question. It was like she was fishing for something now. “Well, she is. At least I think so. She had a life and went to high school and just seemed like a normal pony when I talked to her.” Vinyl bobbed her head from side to side, thinking on that last statement. “Well, y’know, beside the wings and living in the castle and stuff.” “Before she was an alicorn she was a pegasus, you know.” Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, a sweet smile crossing her glowing features, as if not too distant memories played across her vision. “It took her quite a while to get used to the horn.” “Really?” Vinyl had never heard anything about Cadance before she was an alicorn, she didn’t even know there was a before. “I thought some ponies were just, like, born as alicorns.” Vinyl narrowed her eyes and studied Celestia, trying to discern by herself what the monarch was before the crown. “What about you? Unicorn or pegasus?” “Me?” Celestia closed her eyes again, this time in deep thought rather than remembrance. “That was a long time ago, Vinyl Scratch. A very long time ago.” Vinyl fully believed that, but she was still curious. “In my youth, I was a unicorn. I cannot say I remember much about it, but I know that I have never quite gotten used to flying. I’m not very good at it, even to this day.” “It’s kinda funny, trying to imagine you without wings.” Vinyl cocked her head and tried to remove the feathery appendages from the monarch’s back, making her a bit more ‘normal pony’ sized and giving her a non-ethereal mane.She just couldn’t, it was an absurd notion. “It is.” Celestia nodded in agreement. “I can barely remember a time when I didn’t have them, but sometimes they still feel foreign.” There was a silence between the two, neither of them sure how to carry on the conversation, until Celestia spoke again. “What do you think of me, Vinyl Scratch.” Vinyl couldn’t afford to fuck this up. If she sugarcoated it, Celestia would know and might not ever be this open again. But if she was too blunt, AKA if she was Vinyl, she might hurt her feelings. There had to be a very delicate tightrope walked here. “Well…” It’s a shame hooves are not good for tightrope walking. “You’re Princess Celestia. You’re the thing every filly wants to be when they grow up. You’re just so, like, above it all. Not perfect, but you’re more than us ponies. You’re cool and helped me out, and I think you did more for my life than I could ever possibly thank you for.” The dejected expression on the alicorn’s face let Vinyl know that she had misspoken. “Am I…” There was a great deal of unease, of uncertainty, in the Princess’ voice. It was unsettling to hear such a powerful figure so full of what sounded like doubt. “Am I someone you would consider a friend, Vinyl?” “A friend?” Vinyl did her best to stem her hems and haws as she mulled over the question. “I didn’t think you were friends with normal ponies like me.” When Celestia’s smile died in response, Vinyl knew that she messed up. The rest of the train ride was going to be silent, she could feel it. ---- Shining Armor had enjoyed his short stroll around Ponyville. It was a nice contrast to his life in Canterlot: quiet and slow. Ponies went about their days, offering greetings to all who passed them whether friend or stranger. There was no rush or bustle, just a idyllic pace that Shining idolized. He wished he could wander around the little village all day and peruse the farmer’s market, maybe take a stroll out to Sweet Apple Acres. It was a shame he was here on business. Luckily, his business was at least sweet for the time being. Sugarcube Corner was bustling with activity, which was unsurprising considering the quality of the delicacies served. Not to mention, the summer sun celebration was in full swing, so no school or work for most ponies. More ponies meant more chances to get the information he needed, though. Sweetie Drops was a unique enough name, and tied closely enough with the products that it was still the closest to a sure thing that he would get. None of the booths in the establishment were open, each one filled to the brim with ponies. It was standing room only, and even then it was pushing it. Luckily for Shining, he was a full head and crest above most of the crowd, so making his way through the crowd was not a challenge. Standing at the counter was a mare with a mane that looked like cotton candy with color to match. Her hooves were moving at a speed that shouldn’t be possible as she dealt with a multitude of transactions all at once. Shining was waiting for a dull moment to intervene and ask, but the ponies’ mouth never stopped and neither did the traffic. He had to take his shot, though. “Excuse me, miss?” He raised his hoof over the head of another patron for extra visibility. To his surprise, he was answered almost immediately. Even more surprising, the mare stopped everything she was doing to address him. “Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie and I don’t think I know you!” Shining’s hoof was taken from the air and shaken vigorously. The smile that radiated from the mare behind the counter was brighter than the sun outside. It was kinda unreal. “No, I don’t think so.” Shining responded with a half-hearted chuckle. He was debating whether or not to ask about Sweetie Drops now or later. He was leaning until ‘later’ due to the heavy traffic in the building. However, before he could even say a single word, a white cupcake with two-tone blue icing was shoved into his mouth. “I didn’t think so! If you can just hang on for a few eensy-teensy-weensy thirty minutes to an hour, I’ll get to talk with you and stuff!” And with that, cupcake in mouth, Shining trotted over to an unoccupied booth and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. Sugarcube Corner felt like the sleaziest casino in Las Pegasus the longer he stayed there. No clocks adorned the walls, an adjacent building strategically blocked a clocktower a few streets away. The constant smell of freshly baked treats and saccharine icing was alluring and relaxing. In all honesty, it felt like a trap devised by madponies. “Sorry! This place was a got a lot busier than I thought it would be, my name is Pinkie Pie and I pretty much know everything about Ponyville and everypony in it!” Shining had been kind of listing at that point in time until Pinkie, quite literally, appeared next to him in the booth. “It’s nice to meet you, Shining Armor!” Something was strange about this pony. Those bright sky-blue eyes were wild and untamed, and there was something about them that filled Shining with a little bit of unease. She radiated some kind of energy that felt both dangerous and infectious. “It’s nice to meet you too, Pinkie.” As long as she was friendly and willing to help, Shining would do his best not to question or worry about her. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t need help.” He gave his best smile and tapped into those skills he had learned and oft-used in a time since passed. “I’m looking for somepony here in town, Sweetie Drops. You don’t happen to know her, do you?” “Sweetie Drops?” Pinkie cocked her head to one side and then the other, her tongue stuck out of the right side of her mouth and one eye closed in deep thought. “Nope, never heard of her!” Shining let his head drop at that news, Pinkie claimed she knew everypony in Ponyville, and if she didn’t know Sweetie Drops, then his grandmother’s information was out of date.”But I know Bon Bon, whose name used to be Sweetie Drops.” “I’m sorry?” “Don’t be!” Pinkie’s grinned somehow grew wider and brighter, a feat Shining did not think was possible. “Sweetie Drops was her name when she first got here, but then ponies from Canterlot kept bugging her so she changed it! She runs a candy shop just a street over, I think it’s still open.” That didn’t bode well if the pony he was looking for changed her name to be done with ponies like him looking for her. It was a start though, he would deal with any potential push-back from Sweetie Drops when the moment arrived. “Right.” Shining half-mumbled as he was still digesting the information and thinking about the path going forward.He cleared his throat and shook his head to get it right so he could close out this part of his journey. “Thank you very much for your help and the cupcake, Pinkie Pie. I really appreciate it.” “It’s no problem Shining! I hope you find Bon Bon and do whatever it is you need to do!” As he got up and out of the booth, he gave the mare one last smile and a parting wave. “Me too, Pinkie.” ---- Cadance had not slept last night, she found her dreams perpetually invaded by nightmares and after multiple failed attempts had opted to just not try anymore.It was late afternoon now and she was so tired. She could feel the bags under her eyes and the ache in her muscles as she dragged herself around the tattered castle. Days like these were always the hardest, the days where everypony else in Equestria was with their friends and loved ones celebrating. It just reminded her how alone she was, and how helpless she was to remedy it. “Mia!” She heard the little voice call from outside of the castle. Maybe she wasn’t entirely alone, but she was far more alone than anypony else. “Mia I have some stuff for you!” If she wasn’t already making her way towards the front of the castle, that would’ve helped. In the past, Lily had brought things to Cadance with various vain attempts to get them across the chasm that separated them both. Cadance stood at the large and solid door that kept her from going outside and grabbed a large black velvet cape that had been left for her by Celestia for the chilly fall months to come. She put it over her back to keep her wings hidden from the filly that would be outside. Luckily for the alicorn, Lily was far too young to remember the name ‘Cadance’ or even that there was another Princess besides the ancient stories. She opened the door to be met with a rather curious sight. Lily was on the other side of the gulch, a rope between her teeth and she was swinging it in tight fast circles the best she could. Just as Cadance shut the door behind her, the filly let the rope fly. On the end of the rope that had been flung, a rock had been hastily tied to it to give it enough weight to make it across. It served its purpose, and the rock landed just on Cadance’s side of the gap. “Can you tie that to something, Mia? Something really strong, please!” Cadance looked around and spotted one of the poles that served to anchor the bridge that used to cross the deep and dangerous moat. Without magic, which was a lot more difficult than she thought it would be, she tied the rope around it and gave it a good tug to make sure it was secure. “Okay, I’m gonna send this basket over now!” Cadance sat at her end of the tether and waited patiently. The pale pink filly tinkered with her end of the rope.The alicorn watched her far away companion climb a tree just at the edge of the canyon and tie that end to the base of the lowest branch. “Please be careful, Lily!” Cadance bit her lower lip and cursed her lack of magic. If that filly fell or got hurt, she would never forgive herself. Some sort of god must have been looking down at the moment, because everything went smoothly. On the ground, Lily was just barely tall enough to reach up and attach her basket laden with goodies to the rope with some sort of hook. Once attached, the basket made its way slowly down the incline until it was hanging just at the precipice. Cadance did her best to contain and hide her excitement as she made her way over to the basket and glanced down inside of it. Wrapped up sweets, cookies, and even a cupcake with Celestia’s cutie mark as its icing. Resting atop it all was a white envelope, stained with icing and chocolate, was an envelope. Cadance took it in her hooves and slowly opened it to reveal an unevenly cut, crude, homemade card. On the front cover, written in barely legible ink, were the words ‘Happy Summer Sun Celebration!’. A small smile crossed the alicorn’s face as she opened it. Inside was a flower, a simple yet beautiful lily. Thank you...thank you, so much.” Cadance needed this, more than anything. She needed a friend, even if that friend was a teenage filly whom she would never be able to hug. ---- The candy shop that Shining had been directed to, apparently called Bon Bon’s Bon Bons, was still open and nowhere near as busy as Sugarcube Corner. In fact, it was dead. That would help him at least, even if it wouldn’t help the owners’ wallets at the end of the day. He pushed the glass door at the front of the shop open, causing a little bell above the door to ring and alert anypony in the business that he was here. As he walked up to the counter, a cream colored earth pony mare with a pink and blue curly mane came from the back. At first he could see a surprised recognition in her eyes, as if she knew who he was. Since she knew his grandmother, he would venture that she did know exactly who he was and maybe even why he was here. Until she revealed the extent of her knowledge, he would play his own cards close to the chest. “Hello sir! Welcome to Bon Bon’s Bon Bons, I’m Bon Bon. How can I help you?” The speed at which she regained her full composure was impressive, he had to admit. The smile seemed genuine enough, as did her overall demeanor, even if there was some nervousness creeping into it. It led him to believe that she knew him, but didn’t know why he was here. “I’m looking for a pony, a mare named Sweetie Drops. I was wondering if you knew anything about her,” This was the kind of chess match that he loved, will against will. Two minds trying to out-think one another and outpace the others’ thought process. “I saw this was a candy shop and thought ‘hey, if anypony will know a mare with a name like that, they’d probably be around here.’” While Shining was willing and able to play these kinds of games, Sweetie Drops was not. The smile dropped as did the rather loose and carefree posture. Her legs and back straightened and the once bright blue eyes became cold and narrow. The next words were practically snarled out. “What do you want, Shining Armor?” Check that off, she did know who he was.”If you’ve come as a guard, you can’t arrest me. I haven’t done anything wrong.” Everything she said gave him a little more information. She thought he was still in the guard, and she must’ve gotten into trouble in Canterlot to think that was his reason for being here. “No, I’m afraid I’m not doing any arresting these days.” He reached into his saddlebag with his magical grasp and pulled out a badge. It was a small silver thing in the shape of the sun, ‘DEqI’ was embossed on it with his own number ‘six-three-zero-seven-seven-seven-four’ in the middle. “I’m DEqI now.” “No!” Sweetie Drop’s mannerisms went from dominant to defensive in a heartbeat. Her back arched a little higher, her stance widened and her head lowered towards the ground. “Whoever sent you to try and suck me back in, no. I’m done. I don’t care what got out, how, or how dangerous it is. No way.” Okay, he would definitely file all of that away for later and look into it, for now he would just focus on his task. “I’m not here on behalf of The Department, Sweetie Drops. I’m here on behalf of my family. My grandmother, Twilight Satin, died and told me to find you.” Shining put his badge back into his bag and produced the slip of paper that he had written down his grandmother’s last words to him on. He put it on the counter in front of the mare. “It’s filled with blackmail, a mountain of everything my grandmother ever knew about everypony. She wanted me to tell you ‘it wasn’t an accident’.” The mare’s eyes went from slits to as wide as they could be. “I don’t know what that means to you, but I know I’ll be in Canterlot waiting to hear from you.” As he turned to leave the shop, he heard three little words escape from under the mare’s breath. “It was murder…"