//------------------------------// // Revelations // Story: A Scratch On Shining Armor // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------// “Trouble on my left, trouble on my right. I’ve been facing trouble almost all my life.” -Cage the Elephant Vinyl held her head in her hooves very gently. The headache was still there, only now it was radiating from the very tip of her horn to the base of her skull. It was only getting worse and worse as time went on. She had tried to go back to sleep to ease her pain over the last few hours, but to no avail. Had she just passed out? Vinyl had no recollection of what lead to her being in her own bed. Shining and the Princesses had been making her live horrible memories over again, and then the blackness just came. Perhaps her brain had just short circuited from emotional pain, like it attempted a shutdown to save itself any more trauma. Vinyl didn’t know what the brain was capable of, but it at least sounded like it might be possible. She was no neuroscientist. The physical pain didn’t stop the emotional pain, though. The memories, now fresh in the unicorn’s mind, were a swirling vortex of pain and anger. There was so much to take in, so much to process. Sky had done something so unforgivable, so unbelievable, that it rocked Vinyl to her core. When Sky had said those words, when she had confessed her sins, Vinyl reacted the only way she could’ve. Explosively. Violently. Did Vinyl regret the physical violence? Of course. It was uncalled for, it was an overreaction on her part. She should’ve told Glory to just leave and never come back, to get out of her house and her life. Instead, she sent the mare packing with a bruises and missing feathers. Was it wrong, though? Her sister had left a foal in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. A defenseless foal! There was something about that fact that set Vinyl’s core ablaze. Perhaps it was a sense of common decency, maybe it was because Vinyl’s family had taken in a filly who was alone in the middle of the night. Maybe Vinyl felt like Glory should know better than to abandon a pony. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. She had thought about it enough. But as much as Vinyl would like to move on from the subject, the lack of any noise in the room brought her mind back to the subjects that were always there. Every single one of the things she had worked so hard to avoid was at the forefront in the silence. They weren’t peaceful thoughts of introspection either. They were violent and hungry for resolution. Especially now that forgotten memories had been brought into the light. Would Vinyl’s parents be proud of where she is now? That was the most prevalent thought behind Glory. They always wanted the best for Vinyl. They had invested in her talent, had her try out every instrument in the book to find out which one was hers. They worked day-in and day-out to provide a decent life and values for her. Now she was in a home, being foalsat by a guard all day. She just had what equated to an exorcism performed in a boarded up room. She had a very rocky relationship with her sister. Worst of all, her talent was going to waste. That alone made her a disappointment to her parent’s memory. Vinyl’s parents had dedicated their lives to what they loved. Music. Her father poured over every record and genre to appreciate its nuances and strengths. Her mother had dedicated her short time on this earth to bringing joy to ponies through the strings of a guitar. What was Vinyl doing? Being a nuisance and getting drunk to dull the pain of loss. Some daughter she turned out to be. “I hate me…” Vinyl managed to groan out, much to her head’s chagrin. It needed to be said. She finally needed to admit it to herself. Everything she had done these past years, every bit of venom and hate that made it’s way out of her, Vinyl hated all of it. She hated hiding her feelings at the bottom of bottles. She hated the malice she felt towards Glory. She hated not being able to have one stable day. Most of all, she hated the lies she felt that she needed to tell. All of this hate towards herself and her actions, it was like a fire inside. It burned and ached. It raged against all of her senses to push her out of bed and onto her hooves. Vinyl Scratch was many things, most of them not good, but above everything she was determined. ---- Shining Armor was not a comfortable stallion. This couch that he had taken as his own did no favors for his back. It always left his spine feeling stiff and in need of a desperate realignment. What was worse was he had to lay flat on his back last night to accommodate the sleeping Princess on his chest. Not all bad, though. He got to be close to Cadance for a night. That was a plus. It wasn’t very often that they were able to sleep in the same bed, or couch. As a Royal Guard, if he was seen sleeping with the Princess it might start some rumors, or worse. Shining’s parents weren’t keen on their son having a mare over and only a wall separating them from little innocent Twilight. As the guard shifted on the couch, Cadance buried her face into his chest. How was he supposed to disturb this? It was too good. He couldn’t wake up Cadance even if he tried. “I hope you didn’t ruin the upholstery, Twinkle.” Shining Armor jumped, causing the Alicorn on his chest to do the same. They both looked towards the kitchen, eyes wide and fully awake now. “Scratch, how long have you been there?” Both he and Cadance scrambled to decent positions on the couch. They at least had some modesty. The Princess fired up her horn to straighten out her mane in a flash so she looked royal once more. “Just got back. So like two minutes or something, I don’t know.” Vinyl was going through one of the cabinets, shifting around loud metal objects. She was looking for something particular. “Before you ask, I didn’t break the binding spell or anything. I had to borrow some milk from a neighbor. Less than a hundred feet.” That answered that, then. Shining was about to check the binding spell to make sure it was still intact. If she had broken it, she probably wouldn’t have come back. Or at least that was what Shining thought. “Is she okay…?” Cadance whispered the question into his ear. He had been wondering the same thing. Vinyl sounded different. He would say ‘sober’, it felt oddly true. Usually she was upbeat with a hint of sarcastic bitterness, now she just sounded….normal? Maybe it was the events of yesterday. Surely reliving painful memories would make Vinyl sad. How long the sadness would stay was another question. Was this another roadblock in her rehabilitation? Had they failed? “I hope so…” Was the only thing Shining could say to Cadance. There was no certainty at the moment, not with Vinyl’s state of mind. Meanwhile, the unicorn in the kitchen got a large skillet out from one of the cupboards and placed it on the stove. She then began mixing some ingredients together in a large bowl. Shining could barely hear her humming a tune to herself. “What are you making Vinyl?” Cadance got up from her spot on the couch after giving Shining Armor a small peck on the cheek. “Do you need any help?” The alicorn trotted over to the kitchen and took a look around. “Pancakes?” “Yep. Special pancakes.” Vinyl opened a cupboard with her magic and pulled down a container of spice and emptied some into the bowl. Largely, she was seemingly caught up in the work of making the batter to talk. Either that or Vinyl was lost in thought. “Come on, Cadance. Let her cook.” He patted the spot next to him on the couch. “We can listen to the radio.” Shining felt the need to catch up with the world news, anyways. He would let VInyl be VInyl until breakfast was ready. As the Princess made her way back to the couch, Shining fiddled with the radio on the end table beside the couch. He turned it on and quickly tuned it to Canterlot News Network. It was his go-to station for goings on. “Hello ponies. Welcome back to Canterlot News Network. As always, I’m your host Air Waves.” The mare spoke through the crackling radio. She always sounded so professional. Shining was convinced nothing could shake her. “We now go to our top story of the day, a magic storm in FIllydelphia. Last night during the title fight between Bumblebee and Right Hook.a seemingly magical storm spawned above the arena where the fight took place. The arena suffered significant damage in the storm and resulted in Right Hook being struck by an errant bolt. Emergency Weather Services then dispersed the storm. No word yet on what caused the storm yet.” “I hope that boxer is alright.” Cadance looked genuinely worried for the pony. Shining felt the same way. Right Hook was one-of-a-kind in the boxing world. It was her first year on the professional scene and she was still undefeated. As of right now, she was Equestria’s sweetheart. “Right Hook is currently hospitalized and it is unsure whether she will recover.” The Newscaster finished up. “Damn. I had money on that fight…” Shining heard Vinyl grumble in the kitchen. “Can you change it to something a little less depressing? Nintey-six point five is running their morning show right now.” “No, I’m listening to the news.” Shining shot back at Vinyl. “Listen close and learn something.” He put his hoof around Cadance and pulled her closer. “Man, nopony listens to the radio to be educated. Ponies wanna be entertained.” Vinyl said as she poured batter into the skillet. “One day I’m going to have my own radio show, right, and it’s going to be the best in all of Equestria. I’m gonna call it The Vinyl Sc-” “Shhh!” Shining held his hoof towards VInyl and turned up the radio. “Breaking News, Canterlot. Captain of the Royal Guard, Knock Out, has been involved in a deadly carriage crash at the intersection of Fifth and Palace.” The words sent chills down Shining’s spine. “Oh no…” Cadance parroted Shining’s thoughts to a T. “It is yet unclear what condition the Captain is in, but we will keep you updated as this story develops.” Shining slumped in his seat, his eyes wide. He didn’t have anything to say. How long had it been since a Captain of the Royal Guard had died in office? Decades at least. “Well that doesn’t sound fun.” VInyl said to break the silence. “What happens if he kicks the bucket?” Shining wanted to fire something back at VInyl, but he was too shocked to say anything. “If he passes away in office, an interim Captain will be put into place until the House of Nobles can unanimously agree on a candidate put forth by Princess Celestia.” Cadance sighed deeply. “Let’s hope that’s a big ‘if’...” “Let me guess, the House of Nobles is not a very agreeable bunch?” Vinyl asked as she put a pancake atop a growing stack. “Last time this happened it took five years to name a replacement. Celestia knows how long this will take.” Cadance put a hoof to her head and let loose another sigh. “This might take a decade…” “You know what won’t take a decade?” Vinyl asked, putting one more pancake on the pile. “Eating breakfast. Wake up your stallion and we’ll eat.” Vinyl pulled some plates down and put a bottle of syrup next to the stack of fluffy treats. Shining was shaken from his thinking by Cadance. He was trying to figure out exactly how to cope with this news. It was not often someone so high up was put into this kind of jeopardy. This was going to put the chain of command into chaos for sure. “Alright Scratch, what’s so special about these pancakes?” For now though, he was going to put all of his work worries to the back of his mind so he could focus on Vinyl. It was his solemn duty to help and rehabilitate her and therefore his chief priority. “I’ll tell you once you sit down and start eating.” That gave him cause for concern, and it must’ve shown. “They’re not poison, so quit worrying about it.” With that fear not quite subdued, he trotted over to the small kitchenette to get himself some pancakes. Cadance got hers first, three particularly fluffy ones with a good helping of syrup drizzled atop them. Shining had decided to let Vinyl get her food before him, but she had declined and insisted he went first. Again, not allaying his fears of toxic pancakes. As soon as he put the first glob of maple laden goodness into his gob, he realized that Vinyl could make some really good food...or pancakes at the least. “Okay. I guess I should tell you why these are special pancakes…” Vinyl sat on the floor across from the couple who sat on the couch. The young unicorn rested her plate on the coffee table and let loose a deep sigh. “They’re called apology pancakes. My parents used to make these when they had to give us bad news…” An all too familiar feeling started to form in the pit of Shining’s stomach. He didn’t like bad news normally, and bad news from Vinyl was about ten times worse than normal bad news. It meant his job was going to become more difficult. “See, they made them because you can’t really object or be angry when you’re eating homemade cinnamon pancakes.” She had a fair point, Shining conceded as he munched on his breakfast. “I guess I should get to the point, huh?” Vinyl looked away from them both, a heavy shame present in her violet eyes. “I lied to you, Twinkle….like a lot.” He couldn’t say he was surprised at this. It was obvious at times Vinyl was holding back the truth, sometimes more than he would’ve rationally allowed. But as long as she was coming clean now, that’s what mattered. “That first day, when you asked me about my family and my job? I didn’t want you to pry to deep and I panicked so I told you somepony who was distant and I hated.” Shining had never seen Vinyl look so uncomfortable, not even when they were visiting with Glory. It was actually kind of sad and just plain hard to watch. “I have an uncle here in Canterlot. He runs my dad’s old record shop a couple of blocks south. I….technically work there and still get paychecks.” “Hmmm.” Shining let slip through his stuffed mouth. New family could help, he could get someone close to her to talk and hopefully get through her rather thick skull. Maybe he could even get her working consistently again. “See, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you.” Vinyl shot at the stallion, a slight scowl across her visage. “I see those gears turning, I know you want to go see him.” Shining swallowed his food and pointed his fork at the mare. “You’re right, and we’re going to go do that as soon as I’m done with breakfast.” Shining stuck the fork into the delicious morsel on his plate and took another chunk out of the stack. The grin on his face as he chewed was something that was visibly making Vinyl more upset, and he was okay with that.