//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: Threads Overlapping 
// Story: A Vinyl's Last Scratch 
// by Shadowflash 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 10: Threads Overlapping



These threads, new threads, pieces of my mind, you need to realize they're a part of time that overlap me. They hold onto me and pierce my heart and armour into a new piece of destiny.


"We're an Egalitarian society. I'm not sure exactly what it means but, I think it's something about everypony working together to reach prosperity.", Vinyl softly said.
"That's about what it means, yeah. Equality amongst everyone, or pony, in this case. Do go on.", Jack smiled softly.
"Well, our leader is two princesses, Celestia and Luna. Celestia raises the Sun during the day, and Luna raises the Moon during the night.", Vinyl stretched out a bit on the hardwood floor, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Wait, you mean your ... 'Earth' doesn't rotate on an axis?", Jack asked.
"Uhm...", Vinyl didn't know how to answer, not knowing what the hay he was talking about.
"I don't know what you mean.", Vinyl said.
"An axis is what our planet rotates on. The moon rotates with us on a different axis, causing us to have night and day. One side of the planet is away from the sun, the other isn't.", Jack explained in comprehensive detail.
"Oh, then no. We don't have that. Celestia and Luna use their magic for that.", Vinyl smiled gently, as she said this.
"Really, there hasn't been anything big as you humans have. Except for a few disasters here and there. Like the Nightmare Moon incident, where six ponies were sent to stop Nightmare Moon, releasing Luna from her evil-side, for lack of a better term, I guess. And then there was the Discord incident. That one was hectic. Discord kept changing the world and the six ponies had to stop him as well.", Vinyl yawned softly, cringing her eyes.
"Discord? Who's that?", Jack asked.
"I'm not sure. Apparently some creature of Chaos. I really don't know...", Vinyl sigh, laying her chin on her forehooves.
"Hmm. Well, this has been interesting. But, maybe you can tell me about yourself, now?", Jack has been holding this question back since Vinyl entered his house. He thought it was appropriate to ask now.
"Well... I ... I don't want to right now... I still don't fe--"
"I understand.", Jack interrupted her. He knew how she felt. But, something else was still bugging him.
"But... Something is bugging me...", Jack said, pointing to a large scar on Vinyl's left jaw.
"How'd you get that?", Jack asked.
Vinyl nervously stood up, looking away. She was fearful and wanted to cry again. Vinyl knew she told Clarence that she trusted him. But, he still hit her, and that's pretty bad in Vinyl's mind.
"I-I...", Vinyl stuttered on her words, not sure how to start.
Jack quietly sat there, and then sighed.
"Clarence did it, didn't he?", Jack asked.
Vinyl's eyes went wide, and she turned to face him, surprised that he knew.
"I know Clarence. He gets out of hand, sometimes. When he thinks he's bigger, he'll take advantage of it. I know he didn't mean to hit you, but, there's something in that guys brain that doesn't tick all the time.", Jack sighed again.
"He's a good guy, but, he doesn't know how to handle new things. Not saying this is your fault, it was his for hitting you. But, he probably did it cause he couldn't handle seeing you.", Jack explained a bit further on the matter, rubbing his forehead with his right hand.
Vinyl sat down on her rump, and softly started to sob. Tears dripped onto the hardwood floor, soaking in the small crevices that were there.
"Vinyl...?", Jack looked up, seeing that she was crying.
Vinyl stepped forward a bit, and pushed her face in Jack's chest. She wrapped her forelimbs around his torso the best she could and cried into the black shirt he was wearing. Jack only responded by wrapping his arms around her.


What the hell did Clarence do to her...?
, Jack thought sporadically, and was worried for Vinyl's safety overall.

"Jack...", Vinyl sniffed, talking with a muffle in his chest.
"Yeah...?", Jack responded, stroking her mane softly. It felt like a velvet blanket, just a bit more 'stringy'.
"Clarence continued to hit me... It wasn't once... It was at least six or seven times...", Vinyl sniffed again.
"I... I said I trusted him in his... 'Truck'... But I don't... I don't trust any of you humans... I came here for vacation... Not this...", Vinyl softly cried harder into Jack's chest. Jack could feel the wetness on his chest now from the fluids that escaped her eyes.
"Don't worry, Vinyl. I'll handle Clarence. I promise.", Jack said softly.
Vinyl only sniffed in response, moving closer to lay in his lap. Her rump sat on his right knee and her head was laying on his upper left arm. She looked up at Jack with gleaming eyes, glistening with tears.
"I'm tired...", Vinyl said softly, sniffing gently.
"I have a soft bed you can lay in for a bit. It's in that spare bedroom we passed on our way up here.", Jack lifted Vinyl up, cradling her like a mother would cradle her baby in her arms, and carried her to the spare bedroom. 
Jack laid her down on the large mattress and pulled some blankets out of a closet that was to the left of the entrance. The room was just a plain white with one window, some sunlight beaming in, and a closet to the left. A large, black, box sat on a dresser across from the bed.
"Here's some blankets.", Jack handed her some blankets. They were made of silk, and very thick, fabrics, with cotton stuffed in the middle. Vinyl encased herself in them, and looked over at the black box, with a queer look on her face.
"What is that...?", Vinyl asked.
"That?", Jack pointed to the box. "That's a television. Us humans can't communicate instantly around the world with everyone, so, we use a T.V to do it. Would you like to watch some? I don't know how you'll press buttons on the remote, though...", Jack walked up to the 'T.V' and picked up a small 'remote'. He turned the T.V on and it lit up with some cartoons. He wasn't sure what Vinyl liked, but she seemed to watch intriguingly.
He walked back over to Vinyl, giving her the remote.
"Is this a form of communication?", Vinyl was looking at the cartoon characters running around and chasing a dog.
"No, this is entertainment. We get bored and sometimes need something to watch. I'm not sure if this is your age group bu--"
"I like it. I think I'll watch for a bit.", Vinyl stared at the T.V screen, and was glued to it like super glue to two pieces of paper.
"Each show runs a different length. There'll be something on after the other, so, enjoy. If you need anything, I'm downstairs.", With that, Jack left the room, and Vinyl, heading down the stairs.
Vinyl continued to watch the T.V, giggling every now and then. It was interesting to her in every way. Why didn't Equestria have such a device? It'd be so useful and fun!
The show changed every thirty minutes, though. Something new came on and it appeased Vinyl, as it wasn't the same thing every time. 
"The End...", The T.V set ended a show, that was telling a story, about a knight and a princess and how the knight showed perseverance to save the princess from her evil captor. 
"Hmm.. I like this a lot.", Vinyl was smiling and thinking to herself.
"Coming up next on the HUB: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!", The T.V set yelled.
Vinyl's eyes opened with confusion, as she saw Twilight Sparkle as the cover picture for the show.
"What the...?", Vinyl's head tilted to the side, as she wondered what this was about.

She's on the Television? What's going on here...?, Vinyl was thinking confusedly and was wondering how the heck Twilight would get on there!

After a few minutes of the annoying commercials, the show finally started.
"My Little Pony!... My Little Pony! Ah-ah-ah-aaaah!", It started with a sing-song like tune, and Twilight was in a balloon, floating down from Canterlot Mountain.
Vinyl contently watched the title, pointing out the many ponies she could see that she knew in the background.
"Big adventure!"
"Tons of fun!"
"A beautiful heart!"
"Faithful and strong!"
"Sharing, kindness"
"It's an easy feat!"
"And magic makes it all complete!"
The song ended with something Vinyl couldn't make out, as it sang too fast for her. The show was called 'Lesson Zero'.
"Okay, what's going on here?", Vinyl was a bit angry and decided to get Jack up here.
"JAAAA-aack!", Vinyl yelled out the room, and down the stairs. She heard footsteps and saw Jack running up the stairs.
"Yeah?", Jack walked in, to see My Little Pony playing on T.V.
"What the hay is this?!", Vinyl pointed to the screen.
"It's a show. I don't see the problem. It's just a bunch of ponies wh--- Ooooohhhh...", Jack clued in as he said that.
"I know these ponies back at home! How is it possible they're on a cartoon?", Vinyl glared at Jack, with a bit of fury in her eyes.
"Well, uhm... I really don't know how to explain it. I mean, humans wrote the show. Maybe it's a big coincidence?", Jack tried to give an answer, but really couldn't.
"... That barn's gotta come down first! Now, get back to it, RD!", an orange earth pony was talking to a blue pegasus and a Twilight Sparkle on the television.
"I really don't know what to say, Vinyl.", Jack felt a little bad, not knowing what to do.
"I... I just want to go home...", Vinyl sighed.
"I came here for vacation, now I'm stressed out even more. I wanted to get away from the pain and be alone! ... Uhgg..", Vinyl slammed her head into the pillows, grunting softly.    
"Well, can't you go back whenever?", Jack asked.
"No... I can only go back at the end of the month. Celestia made the spell do that to me.", Vinyl mumbled through the pillows.
"Well, maybe we can figure something out. Just try to make your experience a lot better? I know a great deal of things you and I can do that'll make you feel a lot less stressed.", Jack was smiling, even though Vinyl couldn't see it.
"Like what?", Vinyl mumbled again.
"Well, I know a few DJ's in town, and they could do a small performance for us...", Jack suggested.
Vinyl sat up, looking at Jack.
"DJ's? You have DJ's here in this world?", Vinyl asked, a bit of joy coming to her eyes.
Jack smiled, and nodded.
"Yup. A lot of them, in fact. The ones I know are almost famous. They've planted a deal with a small record company, and are shooting for the top. Maybe you'd like to meet them? Your name is Vinyl. So, I'm sure they'd love to see you.", Jack smiled proudly of his suggestion.
"See me? I want to battle them! If you humans have DJ's I want to be the first pony to win!", Vinyl was smiling, and sitting up on her rump, now.
"Well, we'll see. Besides, I don't know how they'll act to a pony. Buuuuut, I'll definitely introduce you. If they doubt your abilities, which I'm sure they're great, then we --, Hey is that you?", Jack pointed to the screen and it showed Vinyl in the background of a scene.
Vinyl shook her head softly in disbelief.
"Okay, that's creepy.", Vinyl said.
"A little.", Jack decided to grab the remote and turn the T.V off.
"Anyways, I'll make you something to eat and call up a couple of my friends. I'm sure they'll be glad to see a fellow DJ.", Jack smiled, and walked downstairs.

I know I said I wanted to get away from it, but, I have to do something to cheer me up..., Vinyl hopped out of the bed and followed behind Jack, thinking about all that's going on right now.


And what is going to happen in a day or two...