The Changeling Within

by IceQB

Chapter 1: Well, I'm Vinyl Scratch. I'm new to Canterlot High. And I just made friends.

In the city of Canterlot, the air was cool and crisp. Summer just ended, marking the start of fall. That also meant the start of a new school term. Some dreaded returning back to the blackboards and books. Some enjoyed the company of their friends. But for some, it marked the start of a new kind of life.

“Okay. First day of school. Of class. In Canterlot High. I can do this. I can—ah!! What’s that?!” Vinyl Scratch jumped at the school bell ringing right above him, slamming himself into the locker behind him. He looked up and gave a look of disbelief, then horror at the moment when he realised what the school bell ringing meant.

“Oh shit.”

Vinyl sped off and bent around the corners, nearing knocking into a few other ponies late for class and barely missing the pool of vomit lying in the middle of the hallway.

“Don’t run in the halls!” yelled a pony, but Vinyl just turned a deaf ear to her. No matter the cost, he was not going to miss first period. It was his favourite after all: music class.

He spotted his first classroom—room 135—just down the hallway and ran even faster. His heart raced and pounded his chest as if to match his hoofsteps. Gah! First day of class, and I’m late! I better hope my teacher isn’t Strict McPants or something.

Vinyl was too preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn’t see the white stallion standing by the door. He nearly bumped into him, but braked just in time to see him towering over.

“Ahem. You’re late.” He stood with his arms crossed and eyes staring down at the panting Vinyl Scratch. The stallion loomed over him; the air hung gloomily as two eyes stared down at him.

“Sorry. I didn't know what time it was, and I kinda got lost,” argued Vinyl, hoping to get away for being late.

“Yeah, sure. Tell me again during detention. After school.”

Dark, thunderous clouds formed around him; lightning seemed to flash in his eyes. Did he hear him correctly? Detention? On the first day? For being a few seconds late? Things were not going well for him already.

“What?! Detention?! Are you serious?!”

“That’s two for yelling at me." The teacher tapped his hoof against the floor and snorted.

“What?!” Vinyl realised his mistake and quickly corrected himself. “I mean, I’m getting detention for being measly late, and for merely questioning your judgement?”

“That’s three for going against professional judgement. You coming in?”

At this point, Vinyl wanted to skip school. Maybe his parents were right. That this was all a terrible idea.

”No. Your mum and I have decided that you’re going to stay here and train up.

“But I don’t want to be a solider! I want to do music!

“Listen to me, Vinyl Scratch! No one is going to like you once they find out who you are!”

“No! That’s not true! Not all ponies are bad!”

“Come back here!”

“No!”

“No.”

The teacher raised his eyebrows. “No?”

“No. I’m not going in.” Vinyl gritted his teeth and looked directly into the teacher’s eyes.

The teacher was unfazed and his hooves were still over his chest. He held his head up high and said nonchalantly, “Four.”

“No, you’re not.” Vinyl saw the teacher back up slightly and look nervously at the ground. At this point, he heard snickering coming from within the classroom. As he looked up to see which pony was laughing at his predicament, he spotted another white stallion with blue hair walking towards the teacher. He had a shield for a cutie mark and looked as tough as the teacher.

“Oh, come on Mr Meanie McPants. Leave him alone.”

So, the teacher’s name really is McPants. How convenient.

“You get back to your seat, Shining Armor. Let me have fun with the new foal,” growled the teacher.

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it? Give me detention?” Shining Armor snickered.

“Yeah. I’ll probably do that.” He leaned in towards the stallion menacingly.

“While you’re at it, tell my parents. Oh, and tell my sister too. I’m sure she’ll be quite pleased with your behaviour.”

Wow. This pony’s got guts! Although, I’m not quite sure if he should be speaking to a teacher like that. Or if a teacher should be speaking like this at all.

“Oh, you have to bring your sister in this? Fine.” The teacher turned to face Vinyl Scratch and growled. “I’ll see you around, kid.” And he walked away with his head still held up high.

“What a snob,” remarked Shining Armor. Then he turned to face Vinyl. “Don’t let him get to you. He’s harmless. Likes to pick on the new ponies. Speaking of which, what’s your name, new foal?” He held his hoof out.

Vinyl shook it and smiled at him. “My name’s Vinyl Scratch.”

“Vinyl, eh? Well, welcome to room 135. Or better known as the ‘my-teacher-is-always-late’ class.” Shining Armor chuckled.

“Wait, that wasn’t the teacher?”

“Hell no. That was Soarin’. He’s kinda a jerk, but he’s okay once you get to know him.”

“Well, thanks for saving me.” Vinyl smiled and nodded his head.

“No worries. That’s what I do. He dares not say shit to me ‘cause he hopes I’ll put a good word for him when he finally gets the guts to ask my sister out.” Shining Armor chuckled. “Not like he stands a chance anyways.”

"Wait, why can he give me detention?"

"He can't. But he can make you get detention like getting you into fights and tearing your homework up." Shining Armor shook his head.

"Oh."

“Sorry, I’m late guys!” Vinyl and Shining Armor turned in the direction of the voice and spotted a rather large-sized orange pony running towards them. He had dark orange mane and a xylophone for a cutie mark.

“Hey, Mr Z.”

“Hey there, Shining and… who is this?”

“Hello, Mr Z. My name’s Vinyl Scratch.” Vinyl shook Mr Z’s hooves.

"This is Mr Z, Vinyl. He taught me music last year too." Shining Armor gestured to his teacher.

“I sure did. You're a good student, Shining Armor." Mr Z patted Shining Armor on his back.

"Well, thanks." Shining Armor smiled.

"Hello, Vinyl. I don’t reckon I see you around before. Any who, welcome to class 135—Art of Music 101. Rather confusing, eh? This class’s all music and no art, I assure you. I can’t draw the darnest pony for a million bits.”

“That’s okay, Mr Z. You’re the best anyways.” Shining Armor patted Mr Z and smiled at him.

“C’mon, let’s go in. And I gotta apologise to them too.” Mr Z shook his head.

“No worries. They’re already used to it." Shining Armor chuckled as the three proceeded into the classroom.

- - - Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ - - -

Music class was a blast for Vinyl; Mr Z wanted every pony to do a solo on their instrument and Vinyl was picked first among the entire class. Happily, he approached the piano and started playing a soft melody. The entire class sat in silent as he started his journey, hopping from the first note to the other like frogs on lily pads. And when he ended his journey on the final note, he released the pedals, stood up, and faced an awed-struck crowd clapping away. He did notice that Mr Z was busy jotting down notes, probably about his performance.

As he sat down, Shining Armor volunteered to go next. He approached the stage, picked the microphone up and started on his opera piece. Vinyl’s eyes widened at his vocal range. And when Shining Armor hit what Vinyl thought was at his peak, he belched out a higher note and sustained that note for a few seconds. Vinyl’s mouth was left agape as Shining Armor continued with his moment. After what seemed like eternity for many ponies in the audience, Shining Armor finally let his note fade into silence, prompting the standing ovation.

It took a minute and a half before they could stop clapping at Shining Armor’s breath-taking show. And it took another thirty seconds, and lots of convincing on the teacher’s part, to get another pony up on stage. Fiddlesticks took up his fiddle and played a melody, but no pony could top Shining Armor’s act. Not even Octavia with her cello or Lyra with her harp. They had to admit Shining Armor was already number one in the class. And it was just day one.

The bell rang, much to Vinyl’s disappointment. He was just starting to enjoy music class.

“Alright, kids. I’ll see y’all tomorrow for another solo session. And don’t forget to bring your scores for tomorrow’s theory lesson as well,” said Mr Z as the ponies walked out, happily chatting and commenting on how good everyone was. Vinyl too, strutted out with Shining Armor by his side.

“Hey, what class do you have next?” asked Shining Armor.

“I have Home Economics at 244. You?” said Vinyl absentmindedly. His eyes wandered around, searching for the room of his next class.

“Darn it. I have Advanced Math at 213. By the way, the teacher at 244—Plum Pastry—is really cool and fun to be with. You’re lucky to have her. She used to teach me Equestrian. Well, I’ll see ya around, Vinyl!”

“See ya, Shining Armor!” The two walked away in different directions—Vinyl walked smiling towards the spiral staircase in the middle of the hallway.

Well, this is going better than I have expected. My first class and I already found a friend. At least I think he’s a friend.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he felt the sudden urge to pee. Glancing left and right, he spotted the washrooms and walked straight into the male washroom. That made the two stallions inside stare at him, which made him uncomfortable.

“What?” Vinyl asked as he approached a cubicle.

“Uh, I think you got the wrong bathroom. This is the male bathroom," said one of them. Both stallions froze in their tracks, not knowing how else to react in a situation like that.

“Yeah, I’m—Oh. Shit.” Blushing, Vinyl quickly backed away and left the washroom. He then proceeded to lean his head against the wall beside the bathroom doors.

Shit... Force of habit.

He stood outside and watched the male bathroom door, hoping that it would swing open, and that the two stallions inside would leave. As he waited, his bladder grew fuller, causing him to start dancing on the spot. One minute had passed, and sure enough, the two stallions walked past the doors. They shot Vinyl weird looks as they passed him and walked quickly away. Once they were far enough though, Vinyl bolted straight inside the washroom and locked himself inside a cubicle.

Bleh. I have to figure this out at home. Immediately, Vinyl’s red eyes turned green. His horn faded away, and wings with holes started sprouting out. His white flank slowly faded into dark grey, and his pearly white teeth started bearing fangs. His hooves starting to show holes in them and his tail shrunk until it was a tiny stub.

“Ah…” And Vinyl started relieving himself inside the cubicle. And he was glad too. Any longer, and his bladder might have exploded. Once he was done, he trotted out happily, but not before recovering the color of his eyes, hiding his wings, sprouting his horns, and covering up all the holes in his body.

“Room 244.” Vinyl spotted the signboard on top of the classroom’s door not too far away from where he stood. Happily, he trotted towards it. If what Shining Armor did say was true, then he was going to like this class too.

As he entered the classroom, he can’t help but notice only five stallions were in the class, including him. The rest of them were mares. He grinned. “Where are the guys in this class?”

“Silly filly. If you wanted stallions, you should have signed up for Gym, not Home Economics.” Vinyl turned around to face a pink mare with pink mane giggling. She donned purple and white highlights in her mane and had a heart for her cutie mark. “You must be the new foal here. I’m Cadance.”

“I’m Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch. Nice to meet you.” Vinyl nodded and smiled at Cadance.

“Wanna sit beside me?” offered Cadance. “It makes all the guys jealous.” Cadance winked at a chuckling Vinyl.

“Sure!”

The school bell rang, signalling the start of second period. Unlike his first period, his teacher actually came on time and started the class by having everyone introduce themselves by using an adjective from the first letter of their names. There weren’t many that stuck out though; all Vinyl could remember was Cheerful Cheerilee and Big Mate Big Mac from Ponyville, and Radiating Rarity from Manehattan. Rarity stuck out the most for his guilty pleasure. With her curves, her sparkling navy blue eyes and soft mellow voice when she wasn’t being overly dramatic, he felt she was really ravishingly radiating.

Vinyl was last to speak. “Hi, I’m…”

Crap. What am I supposed to say?

“I’m… I’m Very Sexy Vinyl Scratch. From Canterlot.”

That prompted the entire class to bellow in laughter. All Vinyl could do was hide his red cheeks and bury himself in his white backpack. Being cheeky was one. Being impulsively cheeky with no regards to the current social situation was another. And promoting how ‘sexy’ she was wasn’t probably the best thing to say in a class full of mares.

Oh my Faust, what did I just say? Did I just call myself sexy? Even though he was embarrassed, Vinyl could help but stifle his laughter in the backpack.

“Hey, sexy!” shouted some pony above the roars of laughter, which made Vinyl look up to see which mare was trying to flirt with him. He spotted a yellow Pegasus waving at him. With the conflict in gender, he didn’t know which was funnier. Having a mare calling another mare sexy, or he himself calling his own body sexy.

“Well then, that was rather unorthodox, but it works, mate,” spoke the teacher who tried to resist laughing. She took a deep breath, chuckled, and shook her head. “Okay class, settle down now. I’m going to show you how to make grape juice using apples. Of course, it doesn’t taste as well as wine, but it’s the closest you can get to wow your friends at parties.”

And so the laughter died down, much to Vinyl’s relief. This was his new low when it came to self-promotion. Very Sexy Vinyl Scratch. I got to remember that one for future introductions.

He watched as Plum Pastry began slicing red and green apples and throwing them into a blender. Next, she added three scoops of sugar, two teaspoons of food colouring and half a litre of water. Lastly, she threw in a couple of slice onions, garlic and lemons in there, which made some ponies cock their heads in confusion. Vinyl noted the recipe just in case he had a housewarming party of some sort, especially after since he would be gone for so long. Parties were bound to happen, whether Vinyl made it happen or not.

Yet Vinyl sensed something amiss in the recipe, like the ingredients were not what they were said to be. He took a quick sniff in the air, and with sudden realisation, figured out what was going on.

The teacher flicked the switch on the blender. Vinyl watched as it mashed the ingredients to form a thick purple paste of sort. “You see here kids,” shouted the teacher over the whirls of the bender, “the trick is to add lemon. Lemon always makes things sweeter.”

“But isn’t lemon sour?” asked a confused Cheerful Cheerilee.

“It is, but I added onions in there too. Just a small amount so it kills the sourness.”

“Ah.” Many ponies quickly took notes. But Vinyl sat there snickering inside. Something told him he would be bursting into laughter soon.

After a few seconds, Plum Pastry switched the blender off and poured the thick purple paste into a couple of cups. “Well, here’s grape juice made from apples. Everybody, go ahead! Grab a cup.”

And they did. Initially, the ponies hesitated to go up; the smell of onion and garlic wafted in the room. Most thought that the teacher was insane. Even Big Mate Big Mac had trouble stomaching down the purple paste the teacher called ‘grape juice’. He winced at it and nearly barfed his breakfast.

With every pony fearing to taste it, all but one dared not approach it. All but Vinyl.

“Oh man, this tastes good!” Vinyl just downed a cup and was about to get a second cup when his teacher stopped him.
“Vinyl, let every pony try it.”

“Yeah, guys. Come one. It’s not so bad once you get used to the initial garlic smell.” That statement caused the rest of the class to back off even more.

“And ginger. And onion. And leek. And rotten cabbage.”

“Eww!”

“Okay, I was joking about that part. But, oh you know what’s the best part? The sweet aftertaste of rotten apples in your mouth. Not so bad if you can stomach it.” Vinyl laughed as he watched his classmates shake their heads and stuck their hooves out in a plea to say ‘no’. Instead, Vinyl grabbed two more cups from the side and walked towards them. “Go on. Try it.” Vinyl cackled. He then poured one of the cups down his throat.

The rest of the class just stared at Vinyl, partially in disgust and partially in awe. More in disgust however. “How can you stomach it? It’s simply horrendous!” groaned Radiating Rarity who pretended to faint.

All of a sudden, Vinyl burst into laughter--like what he previously was prepared to do. He rolled his eyes and decided just to give it to them; he looked at his classmates and could sense the fear building in them.

Still laughing, he revealed, “Easy. Once you realise that one, she didn’t add onion or garlic. Those were sugar cubes. Two, her food colouring is actually sweetener. Three, lemon does make things sweeter. And four, I was just kidding about rotten apples too.” Vinyl licked his lips and stuck the other cup out. “Here, try it.”

Reluctantly, Radiating Rarity took hold of it with her magic and brought it close to her mouth. She winced, daring to take a sip as the class watched her. A small drop touched her tongue, which told her that Vinyl wasn’t lying. It was sweet.
Braving it, she allowed more drops of the purple paste. This time, she allowed it to go down her throat. Vinyl noticed her face change suddenly after the liquid trickled down her throat.

“Oh my… this is… this is. Simply the most… horrendous tasting thing I’ve ever tasted. And yet… it tastes so sweet. And nice. And soothing. And ahh!” She pretended to faint once more.

“It doesn’t taste so bad after all!”

“Vinyl was right!”

“Eeyup.” And the rest of the class started chiming in their thoughts too.

“Told ya.” Vinyl chuckled.

“How did you know?” Vinyl turned around and faced a surprised Caring Cadance.

“Oh. I could smell the sugar and sweetness from the ‘onions’ when she placed them in. And I knew those weren’t onions. Those were sugar cubes. My mum used to feed me a lot when I was little.”

"What about the smell of onions and garlic in the room?"

"Psychological. The moment I realized I couldn't smell it, my brain just told me it wasn't that. Then I carefully whiffed the smell, and it smelled like maple syrup. Then I knew it wasn’t onion and garlic. We just can't believe everything our teacher says. Who knows, she may be teaching us the recipe for posion."

“Yeah." The two of them chuckled. "Then what about the food colouring?”

“Lucky guess.” Vinyl shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

“You’ve got a good nose.”

“And you’re got a beautiful mane.”

“Thanks. You know…”

And wow, those mesmerizing purple eyes. That cute nose. Wow, she sure is… pretty. Vinyl stared directly at Cadance’s eyes who was still beaming happily and chatting to him about her experiences with cooking. He had the sudden urge to hug her, but restrained himself.

No, no. I’m not having a silly crush now, am I? I… I can’t. It’s not possible.

But look at her. She’s beautiful. And I’m… I’m just Vinyl. A changeling within.

“… and I made it myself!” Vinyl focused back on the sound of Cadance’s voice, which prompted him to smile and nod his head. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to quiz him on what she just said.

“How did you know?” the duo turned to face the shocked teacher, which caused the pair to giggle.

“Lucky guess?”

- - - Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ-Ɵ - - -

The school bell rang once more, signalling the end of second period, and the start of many ponies favourite session.

“Lunch!” yelled Vinyl as he raced Cadance towards the cafeteria after making a bet on who would reach there first. As he expected, he burst through the doors first, winning the bet and making Cadance buy his lunch.

“Wow you’re fast,” said a panting Cadance. “Remind me never to bet on speed.” She headed towards the counter and picked up a couple of cookies and cupcakes.

Vinyl chuckled as he sat down. School was going good for him. Shining Armor, Cadance, and now free lunch. If it meant anything, he felt nothing could ruin his day anymore.

He spoke too soon, however. “Hey, Vinyl Scratch.” A familiar voice spoke behind him. He turned around and spotted Soarin’ towering above him. “Tell you what. You’re lucky that kid stood up for you. You ain't gonna be lucky this time.”

Vinyl remembered what Shining Armor said earlier on. Don’t let him get to you. He’s harmless.

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it, give me detention?”

“I’ll give you more than that,” said Soarin’ smugly as he clenched his hooves and inched closer to his face.

Vinyl remembered the second part of what Shining Armor said. No worries. That’s what I do. He dares not say shit to me ‘cause he hopes I’ll put a good word for him when he finally gets the guts to ask my sister out.

“How about this. Leave me alone, or I’ll tell the whole school about your crush.” Vinyl knew he hit jackpot when he noticed the intimidating face Soarin’ had put on suddenly turned into a scared one. Still, he tried to keep his façade up.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t. But I know that you have a crush on Shining Armor’s sister. I don’t know who she is, but when I do, I’m telling her all about you.”

Soarin’ stared at Vinyl angrily. He took a deep breath in, sighed, and said, “Look here kid. You keep your mouth shut, and I’ll lay my hooves off you. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Now if you excuse me, I’ve got some other fillies to bother.” And Soarin’ walked off, kicking a chair down in the process. Vinyl sighed in relief. At least he knew he wasn’t going to bother him anymore.

“Was that Soarin’ just now?” Vinyl turned his head to another familiar voice. He turned around and saw Shining Armor with a tray of food.

“Yeah. Told him that I would tell the whole school about his crush and he promised to leave me alone if I didn’t.”

“That thing I merely mentioned?”

“Yep. Scared him away though. Thanks for that.” Vinyl nodded his head to thank him.

“No problem. You eating with any other pony?” Shining Armor gestured to the seat beside him.

“Hey Shiny!”

“Cadance!” Vinyl turned her head again and spotted Cadance returning with two trays of food. She sauntered towards them and sat beside Vinyl.

“You two know each other?” asked Vinyl excitedly. The two friends he made today are already friends. Something told him that the three of them was going to hang out even more now.

“Yeah. I’ve known her since forever.” Shining Armor sat down beside her and starting munching on an apple.

“We met at kindergarten. I was also his sister’s foalsitter.”

“Mhmm.”

“So, how did you guys meet each other?” asked Cadance.

“Music. First period.”

“Ah. We just had Home Economics together. T’was funny.” And Cadance proceeded to tell how Vinyl realised the concoction their teacher made wasn’t what it came to be.

“Class’s quite fun actually” She winked at Vinyl, then returned her attention to Shining Armor. “How about you? How’s your first day?”

“Good. Math was boring however. I can’t seem to understand what differenting means.”

“You mean differentiation?” remarked Vinyl.

“Yeah that. Math is sooo complicated.”

“Trust me. It only gets harder from here,” deadpanned Cadance.

“Joy.” Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “Speaking of joy, you two wanna hang out after school? Oh, oh! We can go to that water park afterwards. Heard that a new ride just opened. You guys wanna?”

“Sure,” said Cadance.

“Yeah, I’m good for it. I like water parks.”

“Then you’re bound to enjoy the park later. Have you been there?”

“Nope. I’ve only been in Canterlot for only a few days.”

“Woah! So you’re new to this place too. We should bring him around, Cadance.” Cadance just nodded her head as if to say ‘yes’.

“It’ll be fun!” Shining Armor chuckled. “We’re gonna have so much fun. Us three. I can’t wait!”

Comments

[RustyKat]

i am so totally gonna read this, man!

[The Notebook]

I guess it's about time I read something by you eh? You do look at my story so...

[IceQB]

3136867 Lols :3 Yay~

[Written Out]

Quite an enjoyable read. I was smiling through most of it. The set up was well done, I enjoyed the scenes like the music class and the bathroom scene where you really took the time to develop what was happening, and Vinyl's budding friendship with Shining and Cadance seemed natural. However, I noticed you seem to have a bit of a flow problem when you're writing out the shorter scenes. The one-line paragraphs feel a little stiff and unnatural and the characters are momentarily reduced to hand puppets as they talk back and forth to each other. But glossing over these scenes left something I did enjoy, and this little problem is easy enough to fix in the future.

At least, that's my take on it.

Cheers!

[Schroooom Farmer]

Will read this in about 9 hours. Sleep is for the week
Just gotta inhale the last 150k words from another fic and then i'll read this.
Title, pic and description have been rising my expectations.

[IceQB]

3136920

[IceQB]

3139704 this is the worse fic ever written!

Well, im glad you liked it xD everyone's starting school xD

3136917 thank you :) honestly, I didn't think it would be that good xD

[Truly Luminous]

Wait... so Vinyl is a male...? Also,
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