//------------------------------// // Surprises // Story: A Scratch On Shining Armor // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------// “It is an endless procession of surprises. The expected rarely occurs and never in the expected manner.” -Vernon A. Walters Article two: subsection C: Paragraph four. The words on the page were in perfectly legible Equish as they were in every Guard’s manual. Black on white, plain as day. It laid out what had to be done, what absolutely needed to be done. Shining understood what he needed to do, he just couldn’t accept that it had to be done. “A guard assigned to bind duty, if they wish to take their charge out of the limits of the city in which they were bound, must consult with the Captain of the Guard. Neglecting to do so will result in the immediate termination of both the bond and the Guard responsible.” He read it again, out loud this time. It was definitely real, that much was for certain. He wished it wasn’t real, he wished there had been a big label next to that rule that just said ‘SUGGESTION!’ but no, this was a rule. In order to take Vinyl to Ponyville to meet her niece, Shining was going to have to talk to Interim Captain Galea. That was the cold hard truth, one he had secretly wrestled with over the past day and a half. He had told Vinyl two days ago that they would leave yesterday, then he saw this rule. That had put a damper on things. That was yesterday, where he had taken his frustration out in the sparring room with Vinyl and ended the day by formally breaking things off with Cadance.. Today was going to be different. Mainly because he was going to try his hardest to leave thoughts of his lost love behind and focus on his job like a good guard. “Mornin’ Twinkle.” Shining snapped his head to the side, catching sight of Vinyl trotting out of her room. The mare was no more disheveled than any other morning it seemed, but she was already wearing her sunglasses. That was a bit odd, usually she waited to go out into public before putting them on. “Glad you finally decided to join us in the land of the living, Scratch.” Shining said with a smile as he stood up and followed Vinyl to the kitchen. “You know it’s already eleven in the morning, right?” “Meh.” The mare responded, shrugging her shoulders and starting up her trusty coffee maker. “It’s Saturday, so who cares?” Vinyl paused and looked at Shining. He could pick up the cold look of worry from behind her glasses. “It is Saturday, right?” Shining nodded, causing the mare to nearly collapse from relief. “Thank Celestia! It’s the weekend!” “Well…” Shining rubbed the back of his neck as he stopped Vinyl’s celebration. “...actually we have stuff to do today.” Vinyl turned to the stallion, taking off her glasses to give him the full effect of her glare. “It’s Saturday. We’re staying home.” Vinyl said calmly, a dangerous edge to her voice. “We’re going to sit down. We’re going to eat some cereal. We’re going to listen to the Daring Do radio show.” Each sentence was punctuated by a hoof being driven into Shining’s chest. “We are not going out.” Usually Shining would smile at the smaller unicorn’s silly actions, but today he had to be serious with her. “I’m really sorry, but I’m afraid it’s not up for debate.” Shining looked down at Vinyl sympathetically. He wanted her to know this wasn’t because he wanted to ruin her Saturday, but because he had to ruin his own. If he didn’t end this, VInyl would try to find some excuse to stay here and he couldn’t let that happen. “I’m afraid you can’t just stay here, either. We...well we have to go see Captain Galea, and you have to come with me. Shining could see the cold realization make it’s way through Vinyl’s head. She stiffened up and her eyes searched the stallion’s features, searching for a tell so she could call him out on a lie. He simply kept his expression sympathetic. “But you’ve visited her without me before. Why can’t you just do it again?” The unicorn mare pleaded. Shining could see that Vinyl truly did not want to go see the Captain, but neither did he. At least they were on the same side there. “It’s Saturday, Scratch. I can get away with it on a weekday when you’re supposed to be at work, but it’s the weekend. If she doesn’t see me with you then she’ll think something is wrong.” He was going to let her down easy, he had to or risk a fight. “I’m really sorry, but you really need to come with me today.” “Can I at least get some breakfast first?” Vinyl mumbled, turning back towards the freshly brewed pot of coffee. “Sure.” Shining was actually surprised that Vinyl went along with it. He was expecting at least a little more resistance from her, mainly because that’s what he was used to. Since day one VInyl had not been receptive to his ideas, she had always pushed back and argued with him. Maybe her cooperation was a sign that things were going in the right direction? Maybe he actually was making a difference! The stallion trotted over to the room where he was staying, Vinyl’s parent’s room, and looked over his armor. If he was going to talk with Galea, he had to make sure that every facet of his being was perfect. He could give Galea no room for excuses as to why he was doing a bad job, he could give her no leverage. He studied the gold affair that functioned as his work clothes. The smooth enchanted edges of the armor seemed to glow even in the limited sunlight which they sat. There were no dents or scratches in the armor’s exterior, it was a perfectly well-kept set of armor. It could always use a good polish, though. Shining knew that he needed to be able to see not just himself, but everything within a three mile radius in the reflection of his armor, or else that would be another thing Galea could pick him apart for. Again, it needed to be perfect. Instinctively, Shining reached for the bottle of armor polish he kept with him and the handy cloth that went along with it. He picked up the small bottle of golden liquid with his magic and tipped it over just enough to get a little on the cloth. Except nothing came out. Shining tipped the bottle over completely. To his surprise, not a single drop found it’s way out of the small flask. Then he was out. Great. The stallion took a deep breath and sighed, of course this was bound to happen today of all days. It couldn’t have happened tomorrow, or even yesterday. It had to happen today. “Well guess that settles it.” He mumbled and put the bottle back where he found it. He wouldn’t go see Galea without his armor polished to a mirror shine, so it seemed he was going to have to get some more polish from home. On a positive note, that meant he was going to be able to see his whole family today. It was Saturday, so Twily and both of his parents would be lounging around at home. It would be good to see them again, and maybe he could even talk to one of his parents about this whole Cadance thing. They would know what to do, or at least be able to help him get over this. “It’ll be fine, just another easy day.” The stallion said to no one in particular. He sincerely hoped that he was telling the truth and not just trying to convince himself. ---- Vinyl had to admit that it was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, a small breeze blew around lazily bringing with it thoughts of the autumn soon to come to the city. That did not change the fact that she had to go to the castle. All of the beautiful days in the world could not ease the pit in her stomach that formed when she thought about talking to any member of the guard in an official capacity. Especially now, she felt like she was steps away from getting a real punishment. Sure, Twinkle had explained why they were going. They needed approval from the Captain for her to leave the city. Vinyl was all for leaving the city because it meant she finally to see Lily, she just wished she didn’t have to go through Galea to get there. Before even that, the duo had to stop by Twinkle’s family home to get something dumb. Vinyl didn’t remember exactly what it was because she simply didn’t care that much. Whatever it was, it was just delaying the inevitable meeting with the Captain of the Guard. He had also said something about his family being there, but that wasn’t really that bad. Vinyl would just keep to herself. “Scratch I really need you to be on your best behavior today.” Vinyl was yanked out of her own thoughts by Twinkle nudging her. “Not just at the castle, but at my house too. I know you’ve already met my sister, but my parents might not be as receptive to your attitude as I am.” “When have I not been on my best behavior, Twinkle?” A little sarcasm to lighten the mood never hurt anyone as far as she was concerned. Okay, maybe it was a bit of a nervous habit as well, but that was besides the point. “I’m being serious, Vinyl.” The stallion walking beside her said cooly. Using her first name was a sign of great seriousness between the two. It was almost a silently agreed upon rule, they never used their real names unless something was up. “I’ll keep my mouth shut, got it.” That was the only way for her to be on her best behavior and they both knew it. If she allowed herself to speak it would just be...well she would be Vinyl, and that would only lead to trouble. “You don’t have to keep your mouth shut, I would just like it if you thought about what you were going to say.” Vinyl looked over to Shining, who was just keeping his gaze straight ahead. She wasn’t sure whether to take that as an insult or some sort of life advice. On one hoof, she always thought about what she was going to say. Well most of the time. Okay, half and half. The pair silently approached the door of Twinkle’s home. There was a slight hesitation before he knocked, Vinyl guessed he was gathering his thoughts on what exactly to say. Within moments, the door opened to reveal a platinum colored mare with a white and purple colored mane. As soon as the mare saw Shining, her eyes shot open in surprise. “Shining!” The mare, who Vinyl guessed was Twinkle’s mom, took the guard in a warm embrace. “Oh, it’s so good to see you again. I was beginning to think we wouldn’t until you were done with your bind duty.” The mare looked her son over then gasped. "And what happened to your eye? Are you alright?" “Yeah, I'm fine. Just a hazard of the job, and I'm sorry I’ve been so busy, Mom. I know I should’ve stopped by sooner, I’ve just been kinda busy.” The stallion returned his mother’s embrace, finally letting her go after a few moments. “Speaking of my job, this is Vinyl Scratch. She’s the pony I’m helping.” “Yo.” Vinyl gave the mare a wave. She was going to keep her talking to a bare minimum so she didn’t cause any trouble today. It was the least she could do for Twinkle while at his family home. “It’s nice to meet you Vinyl. I finally get to put a face to who my son is working with!” Vinyl was surprised by the mare’s enthusiasm. From Twinkle’s initial attitude when they first met, Vinyl guessed that his whole family was uptight. Meeting his little sister a few times did nothing to help that assumption. “As you probably have guessed I’m Shining’s mother, Twilight Velvet.” “Honey, who’s at the door?” The call came from somewhere deeper from inside the house. The voice was masculine, probably Shining’s dad figured Vinyl. He sounded almost twice as jovial as Vinyl would’ve guessed. “It’s Shining Armor!” The mare called back as she opened the door fully and ushered the pair of white unicorns into the house. “He brought his friend Vinyl Scratch with him!” while ‘friend’ wasn’t exactly the right word, Vinyl liked it better than ‘involuntary prisoner’ plus it had at least a modicum of truth to it. Shining and Vinyl were ushered into the living room and sat on the couch where maybe a week ago she had been lounging and drinking expensive wine. It would probably be for the best if she did not mention that. Celestia knows how that would go over, “Shining Armor?” A stallion came from around a corner and into the living room. The light blue stallion strode into the room with a curious expression on his face. Vinyl knew at that point where Shining got his good looks from. “Now where do I know that name from? It almost sounds like the name of a pony I knew who never visited his parents…” “Haha Dad, very funny.” Shining said, obviously finding no humor in the statement. “I’m sorry I’ve been working so hard, it’s just been a rough week.” There was no sharp sarcasm in the stallion’s speech like Vinyl was used to. There was only a sad resignation. “I know, I know.” Shining’s father responded, pulling his only son into a hug. “You know we’re proud of you for working so hard.” The hug was much shorter than the one Shining shared with his mother, Vinyl just guessed that was a stallion thing to not like hugs. “Now let’s get down to brass tacks, son.” Vinyl felt the patriarch’s amber gaze fall squarely on her. “Why did you clone yourself? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but I am going to question the ethics of it all and tell you that the eyes are the wrong color.” Speaking of eyes, Vinyl was surprised that Twinkle's dad didn't bring up his son's bruised eye. Maybe he just kinda figured it had something to do with work and didn't want to ask. “Dad, that’s Vinyl Scratch. This is my father, Night Light.” Now Vinyl knew that Twinkle was more than capable of exchanging witty jabs with ponies. Why was he being such a killjoy around his own parents? “It’s a pleasure, VInyl.” She took the stallion’s hoof in her own and gave it a firm shake. “I’m terribly sorry for my son’s stoic countenance, it seems the guard takes a bit more than bits out of our wallets.” Vinyl cracked a smile, at which the older stallion took notice. “Aha! A smile! You can’t possibly be my son’s clone!” “It’s really nice to meet you both.” Vinyl said, trying to keep all possible thoughts to herself. She had at least a million different things she could say to Night Light’s statements, but she was keeping every single one to herself. Twinkle owed her so much for this. “We can’t stick around here for long. We have a meeting with Captain Galea to get to, and I’d rather do that sooner than later.” Shining trotted over to the stairs. “I just have to get something from my room and we’ll be on our way.” With that Twinkle ascended the stairs, leaving Vinyl alone with his parents. “So Vinyl, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?” Twilight Velvet said, a polite smile on her face. “Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Both of Shining’s parents took a seat on a loveseat that was directly opposite the couch Vinyl was on. “Nah, it’s cool.” She waved a hoof at the thought. She didn’t want to be rude, after all they seemed like really nice ponies. Some conversation wouldn’t hurt. “What do you want to know?” Of course, any questions she didn’t want to answer she flat-out wouldn’t. That wouldn’t change just for nice ponies. “Well, what do you do for a living?” Night Light asked. “I’m an astronomer at the Canterlot Observatory, and my lovely Lovebird here is an author.” Vinyl just couldn’t help but smile everytime Night Light spoke. Every word was just filled with so much enthusiasm and joy that it was almost like magic. “I work at my Uncle’s record shop downtown. In my spare time I make music, that’s sorta what I want to do professionally.” Vinyl was expecting to see two pairs of eyes rolling at her statement and getting ready to dismiss such silly dreams. Instead she was met with the same two smiling ponies. “That’s fascinating. We don’t know many musicians.” Velvet started. “What kind of music do you play? Classical or more modern?” “Modern.” Vinyl was starting to get into the groove of the conversation. “Don’t get me wrong, I like classical stuff but I couldn’t play a piano to save my life.” The long married couple laughed. “Mainly I focus on a lot of modern and experimental stuff like electronica and dubstep. It’s kinda where I really found my love of music.” “I have a coworker who’s absolutely fascinated with that stuff. Believe it or not he’s got me listening to it now.” The stallion received an odd look from his wife, like she was learning something new about a subject she supposedly perfected long ago. “I know, but let me tell you that kind of music is good for dancing.” “Honey, you’re a terrible dancer.” Velvet said, poking her husband’s chest. “I know, that’s how catchy the music is! It even makes me dance!” The stallion turned back to Vinyl. “It’s so catchy I bet it would even make Twily break out with a little boogie fever. Let me tell you, that filly gets her dancing skills from me so that’s saying something.” Vinyl was still stuck on the mental image of a bunch of astronomers dancing to club music. The only descriptive word she could come up with was ‘ridiculous. Most likely it was a sort of hyperbole on Night Light’s part, but it was funny nonetheless. “I wonder what’s taking Shining so long.” Velvet said, looking to the stairs. “It’s nothing against you, Vinyl. I just thought that he would’ve been done getting what he needed by now.” Vinyl wasn’t offended, in fact now she was curious. It wasn’t like Twinkle to dawdle. “Oh he’s probably just talking with Cadance, Velvet. You know those two, give them a minute and they’ll take an hour.” Night Light responded. ,Luckily they were both too caught up in their giggling to notice Vinyl nearly turn to stone. What in the world was Cadance doing here? ---- Shining was still standing in the doorway to his room. He had been standing there for...well he didn’t know how long. As soon as he had seen the sleeping alicorn on his bed, he just hadn’t moved. The last place he expected to see Cadance after last night was in his room at his parent’s house. His mind had already gone over the thousands of things he could say or do, yet his body remained still. He just couldn’t will himself to be physically in the same room as the Princess, it just wasn’t possible. “Are you being creepy and watching her sleep again?” A little voice came from beside Shining, causing the stallion to nearly jump out of his armor. He looked down and saw Twilight staring up at him expectantly. “W-what? No, I’m just…” He shook his head, abandoning that train of thought around his little sister. “What is she doing here, Twilight?” He pointed towards the sleeping mare, even though he was sure he didn’t need to. “She was caught in the storm last night and came over to wait it out.” The filly stated flatly. “Except it only stopped raining this morning, so she stayed the night in your room.” Twilight was acting like this wasn’t a big deal and Shining didn’t know how. This was an extremely big deal. How was he supposed to get his armor polish without waking up Cadance and getting roped into a conversation that he wanted no part of right now? “Are you afraid of waking her up or something?” Shining just nodded, a little too frightened to speak. “Cadance, wake up! Shiny is here!” Before Shining could react, the mare on the bed started to stir. He turned towards the filly who was just by him, only to be met with an empty hallway. If he ever got his hooves on her again, why he’d just- “What…? Shining…?” He turned his attention back towards the bed, where Princess Cadance was just beginning to rouse. The lithe alicorn stretched out and opened her brilliant amethyst eyes, looking straight into Shining’s soul. “Shining!” In an instant, the alicorn bolted upright, magic spells going to work fixing her appearance. “Hi Cadance.” Shining clenched his jaw tightly, determined not to get mired down in conversation. He had a job to do today and he would rather get through with it as soon as possible. “I just stopped by to grab something. I’m really busy and can’t waste much time.” He trotted into the room and retrieved a bottle of armor polish from his bedside drawer. “Shining, can we talk?” Cadance’s voice broke through every defense that Shining had prepared. He expected her to be mad, he expected her to be downright devastated. He had never expected her to sound normal after last night. “I...I really need to get something off of my chest.” What was he supposed to say? ‘No’? “Sure.” He made his way over to the bed and sat down beside Cadance. “We can talk…” He only sighed as the events of last night came crashing down upon his shoulders once more. All of the emotional weight was almost too much for him to bear. “I want to tell you that I think you’re right. We do need time apart.” That caught him more off guard than Cadance being here. He was expecting her to beg and plead with him to get back together. “We got together when we were both young and naive, and we never really got past that. We never had time to change and grow without each other.” Shining remained silent, he was going to hear her out for what it was worth. He needed to hear this, that he was right and he did the right thing. “I think I need to learn what my powers really mean, what my true responsibilities are before there can be an ‘us’ again.” The truth is, that making the breakup amicable changed the whole situation entirely. If they both had settled upon it being the best course of action, then it meant he wasn’t at fault. A weight lifted from his chest, the same one that had contributed to so much worry over the past few days. He had been thinking that he had broken up with her for the wrong reasons, that he had overreacted and did something rash. Some of those doubts were absolved now that Cadance admitted it was time to move on. “I’m sorry, Cadance.” It was all he could say. He felt truly apologetic that it ended this way, that it had to end this way. Neither of them had ever meant to hurt each other, yet here they were. Both hurt and currently miserable. “I am too.” An uncomfortable silence followed. It hung in the air, thick with ripe emotions and broken hearts. Neither of them wanted to break it, either out of fear or just wanting to enjoy each other’s company one last time. “I guess you should get going, huh? You’re busy and all…” “Yeah.” That roused Shining to stand up and grab the bottle of polish once more. “Yeah, I’m busy. Right.” He left without saying another word, too scared of what may slip out if he tried to say more. So he left the room without looking back, he was done doing that for now. Forward was the only direction he was concerned with for now. The guard made his way downstairs to find his parents and Vinyl laughing rather heartily. All attention found its way to him once the clinking and clanking of his armor was made known. His father turned, wiping tears from his eyes. “Oh, Shiny you just missed Vinyl telling us the funniest story about her dating a diamond dog. Sweet Celestia, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.” Night Light suppressed another chuckle and got the last errant tear from his eye. “I think you have a really good friend here, Shiny.” “Oh yes, I really wish you would’ve brought her around sooner. She’s such a delight.” His mother added, only raising suspicion from Shining. He shot Vinyl a look, as if asking ‘who are you and what have you done with Scratch?’ He only received a smile in response. “I’m sure she is, but I’m afraid we have to go. We have important business at the castle to attend to and I would hate to be late to it.” He motioned for Vinyl to stand, which she did. “I love you both and will see you later. Bye!” Was it rude to leave in such a rush? A little. They did have urgent business to attend to, though...plus he didn’t want to stay in the same house as Cadance for much longer. It was only making him want to go up there and ask for forgiveness, to rekindle their love right then and there. They both left the house in a blur, leaving two slightly concerned parents behind them. Shining was already heading to the castle at a brisk pace with Vinyl almost struggling to catch up. He wasn’t going to slow down, though. He just couldn’t afford to. “Dude!” Vinyl shouted at him. “Dude! Twinkle, what is wrong with you?” Vinyl finally caught up and got ahead of him, stopping the stallion in his tracks. “Seriously, what’s up? You kinda rushed out of there like you’d seen a ghost or something.” “We just have a lot to do today, and I wanted to get a move on.” Shining stared at her, hoping she would take the cue and not press further. He didn’t want to get into with Vinyl in the middle of Canterlot. That wouldn’t do anyone any good. “Fine. Whatever.” Vinyl replied, huffing angrily. “If you don’t wanna talk about Cadance said to you up there, then fine. I don’t even wanna know about it.” Shining cocked his head. How did Vinyl even know Cadance was up there? He hadn’t told her. “Listen, I’m sorry Scratch it’s just-we’ll talk about it later when we get home, alright?” Shining knew that Vinyl was probably worried, no matter how improbable that was, and that she just wanted to make sure he was okay. He reached out and placed a hoof on the smaller mare’s shoulder. “I’m fine, though. Don’t worry about it.” “Please,” Vinyl scoffed. “you wish I was worried about you, Twinkle. I just wanted to know why we ran out so fast. I was having a nice talk with your folks and it was rude to leave that fast.” Vinyl could try to hide it as much as she wanted, but that didn’t change the fact that she really did care about Shining’s feelings. Shining knew that, after last night it had become obvious. ---- Thirty Minutes Later Shining sighed. He and Vinyl had been sitting outside of Captain Galea’s office for nearly twenty minutes and they had still yet to be seen. Captain’s weren’t even supposed to be busy on Saturdays, they were mainly there to catch up on paperwork from what he knew. THis meeting should have been done by now. “I appreciate your presence, Intrigue.” Shining’s ears perked up at the Captain’s voice coming from the other side of her office door. “It’s good to know I have the full support of your organization should I need it.” The door opened to reveal an off white stallion with a salt and pepper mane walking in front of the Captain. He said nothing, just nodded back at the icy mare and then trotted off. Shining could’ve sworn he’d seen that pony somewhere before, he just couldn’t place it. That was going to be bugging him all day now, great. “Guardspony Armor, Vinyl Scratch, get in here.” Shining stood without a word and quickly moved into the office, followed closely behind by Vinyl. Shining stood in the middle of the room, giving a crisp salute while Vinyl took a seat across from Galea’s own seat. “At ease, Guardspony.”Shining let the salute drop, but he did not relax. “What did you wish to speak to me about? I assume it’s important.” Secretly, Shining was relieved that Galea wasn't asking any questions about his black eye, or Vinyl's goose egg. That would've only complicated matters further. By all accounts the light blue mare sitting on the other side of that giant oaken desk should not have been intimidating. She was smaller than most mares, and her very overall visage was very motherly and warming. It was the eyes, though. Anypony who ever encountered Galea could tell you that her eyes were a cold as a Windigo’s heart. Even now those harsh gray eyes stared directly into Shining, cutting him down before he even had any chance. “It is important, yes.” Shining mentally steadied himself, only expecting worse after his next sentence. “I would like to request permission to take Vinyl Scratch out of Canterlot and to Ponyville where her niece resides. I think it would help improve things greatly between her an-” He never got the chance to finish because Galea held up one hoof, silencing him in an instant. “I approve your request.” The glacially eyed mare said, surprising both of the other ponies in the room. “I want it done by Monday, though. I want you and her back in Canterlot by Monday morning before sunrise.” Shining nearly screamed. Today had just been full of surprises.