Tomorrow
“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
-Lyndon B. Johnson
“No, listen to me, you’re an idiot and you’re wrong.” Vinyl rolled her eyes at the spectacle before her. These three stallions had come into the store a good twenty minutes ago and had been arguing since they set hoof in the door.
“I’m an idiot? Says Mr. ‘Easy Pickings’ over here.” The gray one with the swept back mane fired back at his blue friend. She guessed they were friends, they argued like they hated each other.
“Can we not do this here, guys?” The third member of the troupe, the brown one with the flat cap tried to act as the mediator. Vinyl was rooting for him, he would probably get the bickering morons out of her shop.
“No, we can’t stop until he apologizes for being wrong!” The blue pegasus fired back. “It’s every day he does this and I’m getting sick of it. He can’t just admit one time that I’m right!” Vinyl let her head hit the counter and let out a groan. She hated some ponies so much.
“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re always wrong!” Back to the quickfire bickering they were doing when they first walked in. It was the most infuriating because they were constantly talking over each other, and she couldn’t get a handle on what they were arguing about.
“Will you three just shut up?!” She yelled at the three stallions. She had enough of this nonsense and didn’t want a headache today. “Quit arguing and buy something for Celestia’s sake!” The three stallions stared at her for a second.
“Rude.”
“Totally uncalled for.”
“Sorry….”
The blue and the gray stallions huffed and marched out of the shop, muttering mean things about Vinyl. The brown one came up to the counter, sheepishly holding a record in his magical grasp. He tossed some bits up on the counter, and a few extra after that. Without another word he took the record and bolted from the shop.
“What’re you hollerin’ about in here?” Great, now she disturbed Uncle B. Just what she needed. First Twinkle comes back from the castle last night all reclusive and stuff, and now she pulls this. “Were you hollerin’ at customers?”
“Yeah, they were being annoying.” She turned to look at her Uncle, her eyes hidden behind her favorite shades. “Like, really annoying.”
“You don’t yell at customers, Scratchy. I don’t give a hoof how annoyin’ they are. If they have bits floatin’ around, you gotta at least tolerate ‘em.” The elder unicorn then reached out and snatched her glasses from her face. “And what did I tell ya about wearing these in here? It ain’t professional.”
“I know.” Vinyl grabbed her glasses back from him and placed them once again where they belonged. “But unless you want every customer to come in and see the bags under my eyes, I’m going to wear them.” She had gotten very little sleep last night on account of Twinkle’s countenance. He was upset about whatever happened at the castle, and she had been up all night worrying what that meant for her.
“Just be nice, alright? I can’t have you scarin’ away all of my customers.” Uncle B trotted back to his office, leaving Vinyl alone once again. It’s what she hated, being alone. Usually she wouldn't have to deal with it, because either she was in a club or had a new ‘friend’ to spend the night with depending on the occasion. Nowadays, she always had Twinkle around, so there was always something to talk about.
Speaking of Twinkle, he went off earlier and she hadn’t seen him since before noon. She guessed he was at the castle again, maybe visiting Cadance. It was the safest bet, but the much more interesting possibilities were the ones creeping their way into her head.
Maybe getting back her job had inspired Twinkle to consider her rehabilitated? Or perhaps he was doing something more nefarious at the castle, like looking into her lineage to find any more of her relatives.
The bell above the door rang again. Fearing that it was once again the arguing idiots from before, she lowered her head, reading the back of a nearby record. Vinyl was going to keep her mouth shut whether she liked it or not.
“Vinyl?” She raised her head and saw a very familiar sight. “Vinyl Scratch, I didn’t know you worked here.” It was Intrepid, the stallion from the Orchestra. What was he doing here?
“Oh...hi Intrepid.” She gave the pegasus a smile. Well the best one her sleep-deprived features could manage at least. He looked different than before though. He was missing one of his legs, the fake one she had noticed the other day.
“It makes sense now.” The pegasus mumbled to himself, taking a look around. “I was told this was a place where I could find some good music, so I decided to come and check it out. My record collection is running a bit thin.” Thank Celestia he was a music lover, it made him all the more endearing.
“Yeah, who told you about this place?” Not many ponies knew about the record shop, and those that did were the music-heads who wanted their little paradise kept private.
“A mutual friend of ours, actually.” Intrepid moved towards the counter, looking around nervously as he did so. “Princess Cadance.” Oh. Well it made sense now. Cadance was the one that brought him along to the orchestra, and now she directed him to Vinyl’s place of work. The Princess was setting them up, the conniving pink alicorn.
“So what kind of music are you interested in?” Vinyl walked around the counter. “Jazz? Classical?”
“Really?” Intrepid gave a chuckle. “Do you think I’m that old? I enjoy classical, but I wouldn’t buy a record of it.” He gave a look around. “Why don’t you tell me what you like and we’ll go from there?”
“Well, alright.” Vinyl immediately went for the alternative section. “Polar Primates are pretty good, Entrap the Pachyderm. Anything indie or alternative is what I listen to mainly. I like a little of everything, though. Electronica, rock, some metal, rap. I just like music.” It’s true, one of the few subjects Vinyl could talk about all day was music, and if you got her started it was hard to stop.
“I’m a fan of classic rock and more...exotic sounds.” Intrepid looked at Vinyl, his eyes gaining a glint of passion. “Tell me, have you ever heard the Zebra’s song of honor?” Vinyl shook her head. “Completely without instrumentation, all done with their voices. When one of the tribe dies they all gather around the body as it burns and sing songs of the good deeds the deceased had done. Each song is unique in its entirety.” There was something about the way Intrepid spoke that made Vinyl’s heart lift. There was a passion and knowledge for the subject that she had heard only when others spoke of their special talent.
“That sounds like something else.” Vinyl leaned on the endcap they were standing by. “You seem like you’ve been around some exciting places.” Vinyl recalled he was some sort of explorer. It definitely showed. The way the stone gray pegasus carried himself was testament to a life of observation and treading lightly.
“I’ve been a few places, yeah.” He chuckled and looked away for a second. The pause between them was pregnant, and full of what Vinyl would call apprehension. “Say, Vinyl. I don’t suppose you’ve had lunch yet?”
“Uh, no.” It was only noon and Twinkle had said he was going to bring her lunch when he got done at the castle. Who knows when that would be, though. To punctuate the question, her stomach growled. “Looks like I’m hungry, though.”
“How about we go out and get something? If it’s okay with your boss, of course.” Vinyl was surprised at the forwardness of the stallion. At the orchestra he had been a bit of a nervous mess, at first at least. Once they had gotten to talking though...well he was a lot like he is now.
“Sure!” She cleared her throat and looked down. That was a little too enthusiastic for her tastes, she was supposed to be cool and collected. “I mean, sure. Let me ask him.” Hurriedly, she trotted off to the back room. There was a blush on her face that she just couldn’t will away, so she wanted out of that situation as soon as possible.
“What’s his name?” Before she even rounded the corner, Uncle B was already grilling her. How did he know what was going on? “What, ya don’t think I can’t hear ya out there?” It was like he was omnipotent or something.
“His name’s Intrepid. I met him at the orchestra with Twinkle a few days ago.” The look she got from her uncle made her resolve a little stronger. He was skeptical, and that made her more angry that it should. But having a guard questioning every decision was enough, she didn’t need Uncle B on her case either.
“Yer lunch is an hour, ya know that.” The elder unicorn picked up a newspaper and began reading it. “Don’t be late.” With that, Vinyl turned tail and walked back out. She was actually having a second date with somepony, it was a good day.
----
It was a horrible day.
Shining Armor had been sitting here for hours now filling out these forms.The ones that Galea had requested he fill out, in triplicate, about Vinyl Scratch.
This was some major retaliatory action on Galea’s part and Shining was plain shocked when she had given him the order. He had originally thought to disobey the order, but Celestia knows what she would do then. He assumed it would be cleaning the latrines with his own toothbrush.
“Parents died. Do you know how?” Galea was sitting across the room at her desk, looking over the two copies of the report he had already written. “Rock slide. They were going on a trip and their train got hit with a rock slide while going down the mountain.” He knew the answer, he had done his research. Shining just had the common courtesy to tell Vinyl he knew, or ask her for more details. “I looked it up in the archives last night.”
“Yeah, it was a tragedy.” Shining was focusing on his writing more than he was to Galea. If a single word was different from the other copies, he might be forced to correct the document in its’ entirety.
“Forty-three other ponies died in the same accident.” Galea stood up, a folder in her light blue magic. “Parents, grand-parents, foals...family members. No one else related to those ponies have ever reacted the way Vinyl Scratch has. No delinquency. No disturbing the peace.” Galea was now standing over him, she was thoroughly blocking his light. “Why do you think that is?”
“Ponies deal with tragedy in different ways. Vinyl just lashed out.” That had been Shining’s conclusion, at least. It was the only way Vinyl could deal with all of this, get drunk and try to forget. Fill the void of pain with numbing agents.
“Or she’s just a bad egg. We have those, you know. Some ponies are just criminals, Shining Armor. I say we need to adopt the Griffon’s way of thinking.” Shining Armor gave Galea a look of utter disgust. He had heard of the conditions of the prisons in the north. They were the stuff of horror stories. “We could do it better than them, though.”
“Or,” Shining Armor put the final few pieces of punctuation on his report. “We stay the course. Rehabilitation has a lower chance of repeat offenses.” The research backed Shining’s statement, he had done a full report on it in Guard Training. Imprisonment would hurt the population more than it would help.
“I think you’re looking at it the wrong way, Shining Armor.” Galea looked Shining Armor dead in the eyes, sending a chill down his spine. There was something about her eyes that chilled his entire soul, it was something behind them. “There are some ponies who can’t be rehabilitated, we know this. Those ponies without remorse or love, they can’t be fixed.”
“What does this have to do with Vinyl Scratch?” Shining was not going to be dragged into a philosophical argument with Galea. He was not as eloquent as her with his words, and it would lead to a loss for him.
“Well I believe that Vinyl is not just lashing out. This isn’t because of her parents, Shining Armor. Scars heal, they should not hurt her anymore. This is bad intentions through and through.” Shining Armor took a deep breath and pushed the paper towards her.
“May I leave?” He stood up and stood at rest. He was giving her the courtesy of dismissing him. If she denied him, he would leave anyways. He would not stay here.
“You’re dismissed.” With that, Shining Armor headed to the door while Galea headed to her desk. There was one more thing that he needed to say, though.
“Wounds.” Galea turned back to look at him. “Wounds heal, scars don’t. They stay to remind us of pain, to let us know not what to do.” The guard started towards the door again. “Fifteen ponies on that list, the ones that died in the rock slide. Their spouses or parents or kids committed suicide within five years. So don’t tell me that it didn’t affect others.”
----
“Can I get the BLT on rye, please?” Intrepid put down his menu and looked to Vinyl. “What will you be having, Vinyl?” Vinyl looked over her menu, bobbing her head back and forth indecisively.
“Hay melt on wheat.” The unicorn put her menu down quickly, as if trying to get it away before she changed her mind. He chuckled at the slightly dramatic display. “What?”
“Nothing.” Intrepid shook his head. He realized a quite strange phenomenon, and he couldn’t shake how odd it was. He was smiling, almost constantly. There were no shakes or nerves getting to him. Dare he say, this was happiness.
“So, tell me Mr.Explorer, got any more interesting stories?” Vinyl took a drink from her water glass the waitress had placed on the table. “I’m a sucker for a good story.” That was a good sign, he had plenty to share.
“Well how about first you tell me a little about yourself. I know your name and that you like music, but I would like to know more.” Vinyl intrigued him more than he would like to admit. What was it about her that made him feel almost giddy? Some form of sorcery was his first inclination, but that would be ridiculous.
“How about a trade?” Vinyl smiled, the devilishness of her eyes showing through her tinted sunglasses. “I tell you something about me, and you tell me a story.” Vinyl took another drink. “Seems like a fair deal to me.”
“A little tidbit for a whole story hardly seems fair.” Intrepid would give in, but he figured a bit of haggling might be a bit more fun. “Part of a story for something about yourself. I would hate to run out of stories by the end of lunch.” He could see Vinyl mulling it over in her head for a second. Then she nodded. “So where are you from?”
“Canterlot. Born and raised.” Vinyl stated proudly. “Lived here all of my life, and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.” Okay, fair enough. If you could afford to live in this city, why not do it? It was the cultural center of Equestria, after all. For a musician that had to be important. “Story, go.”
“Right to it then, okay.” Intrepid thought of a few stories. Which one would be appropriate for a public setting? “Well, at eighteen I joined the military. I was put in the Aerial Reconnaissance unit and shipped off to Saddle Arabia to act as intelligence for the Saddle Arabians.” Surprisingly, Vinyl seemed rather attentive, something rare indeed. “Do you remember when the Zebra Kingdom took Casaflanca from the Saddle Arabians?”
“I think I was like two, but yeah. I kinda remember it.” Dear Sweet Celestia, how young was she? Was she robbing the grave, or was he being a cradle thief at this point?
“Well my unit was providing intelligence to the Saddle Arabians by flying over the city and reporting what we could, but eventually it wasn’t enough. So they planted us in the city as spies.” He saw Vinyl’s eyes light up behind her glasses at that. It got most ponies that way. “Now, another question?”
“Sure, yeah!” The unicorn replied enthusiastically.
“How old are you?” This answer would either cut this lunch short, or see it all the way through. He was not going to be caught with somepony underage, oh no.
“Twenty-One. Twenty-two in about four months.” Thank Celestia, it was something at least a tiny bit appropriate. That was a load off of his mind. “How old are you?” Oh boy, this was going to be fun.
“Forty-five.” He said quietly. Vinyl had to know he wasn’t exactly a young stallion, the gray in his mane attested to that. “Just turned it, actually.”
“Not the oldest guy I’ve dated,” Vinyl replied, much to his surprise. “Don’t give me that look. He was noble, I was young and broke. Nothing happened and it went nowhere fast.” Well at least she fessed up to it. Better to find out now. “Back to the story.” Straight to the point, once again.
“I was stationed there with my friend Canary, at least that was her code name. Mine was Finch, in case you were wondering. It’s not as exciting as it sounds, though. There were no big chases or magic shootouts. Just us taking down troop movements and getting them to the Saddles.” Intrepid closed his eyes. He could feel the desert heat on his face still, the sandy wind blowing through his mane. He could be lost there all day. But he had a story to tell. “We were there when it was sieged as well, when the magic started dropping and the walls were crumbling...we were there. The building I was in was actually hit by one of the barrages. I was knocked out for the rest of the siege and sent home with a Purple Sun on my uniform the next week.” There, base story done. He didn’t want to get into it any more at the moment.
“Wow. So you were in a war? That’s pretty hardcore.” He smirked at the notion. ‘Hardcore’? No, at the time he was simply caught in the crossfire. He wasn’t going to spoil a positive image of himself, though.
“Your food.” The waitress stopped by the table, dropping two sandwiches on the table and then leaving with a smile. “Enjoy!”
“How about I ask one more question then we can eat?” Vinyl nodded. “What’s your dream job, Vinyl?” The unicorn mare cocked her head to the side, a very puzzled look on her face.
“Well that’s easy, I want to be a musician. My mom was one, and the way she talked about it just makes me want to perform too, y’know? I’ve always had this, like, drive to create stuff for ponies to listen to. When you see how much a pony really enjoyed something that you’ve made, it’s the bomb.” Vinyl’s eyes sparkled with a mad intensity, a positive energy he could only hope to obtain. It was almost intoxicating in quite a magical way.
If only he were a bit more observant, he might’ve seen the alicorn across the street with her horn lit up. If only he had seen her, he might’ve understood that this attraction was quite magical.
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Wonder when Cadence's "Push in the right direction" gets excessive...
Also, good work, keep it up!
7219643
I appreciate it and will continue do my best.
Cadence is such a fool. If either of them catches wind of her messing around, it's all going down in flames.
I wonder... Perhaps Galea is so annoyed because she either new someone on the list who died, or one of the fifteen who died in the aftermath and despises Vinyl for getting attention others didn't.
The idea is still a shot in the dark at the moment, but we'll see what further information tells us.
7219757 Please do! You most certainly are a great writer.
7219639
Yeah, that last paragraph is worrying.
And... what did Vinyl do to require being monitored by Shining? Being a nihilistic partier?
While being a drain on your emotional relationships definitely is a problem that actually can rather ruin lives, it's not quite in the same level as "is a criminal who steals" or something, which is what Galea is implying here.
7221265 Personally, I hope Shining catches Cadence. (ShiningxScratch isn't common, to me at least, so I hope that's the direction the story takes. ;D)
Fun fact: that's actually a word. Well, in Rumanian, anyway.
Ooo, a lunch date, not bad.
Galea continues to be kind of stupid.
This is going well.
Oooooooooh nooooooo. Candy, I don't hate you, but your magical talent seems a bit... intrusive if I may be so bold...
That is so true, I had to fix up a one-shot i wrote and it took me about three hours cause the entire thing was in bold, italic and it was all centered...
The horror.
Nice chapter man, nice chapter.
Whenever I upload anything, first I transfer the document from Google docs to Microsoft word to check for mistakes, then I transfer it to fimfiction. Makes it much easier.
Back on the old I Love Lucy show, Vivian Vance (Ethyl) thought that William Rawley (Fred) was too old to play her husband. She said "May/December is one thing but this is BC/AD"
For post college the rule used to be "Half your age plus 10"
Exactly Armour sure scars fade but they never leave you.