Resolution
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There’s a theory in the field of magic that ponies have a certain permanence that is beyond simple understanding. It says that memories and actions leave imprints on places, objects, and even other ponies. A magical resonance leftover from the long gone, but not forgotten. In places like battlefields this was prevalent, anyone could feel it. Then there were the smaller scale moments, a room, untouched by time. Any unicorn could feel the echoes, they were slight like a whisper on the wind.
Shining Armor had a bit of a gift for magic, it ran in the family. Being so well attuned, he couldn’t help but feel the sheer emotional weight in the room. It was more than dust and echoes to him, it was loud and vibrant. There was joy, sadness, anger...pain. There was life in this room, and he could feel it.
“No wonder she’s a wreck....” This much energy, especially to somepony who it meant a lot to, could wreak havoc on emotions and minds. Shining wasn’t an expert in the field, but his guess was it needed to be dissipated. He’d heard the process mentioned before, not in depth but at least in passing. It involved a pony with a strong connection to magic, and while he was definitely up there in terms of magical talent, he was not the pony to do this.
“I know who can help.” It was pretty obvious, now that he thought about it for a second. He needed to speak to the most magically capable pony that he knew, they would help without question. He and VInyl would go see the pony in question in the morning.
----
Vinyl woke up the next morning, a song she couldn’t remember the title to still blaring from her speakers. It was nice to wake up to something normal for once. No guards jumping on her bed, no waking up in a cell or not wanting to face the pony in the next room over. This morning it was just Vinyl and her music, like it should be.
The mare rolled out of bed and bobbed her head to the beat of the music pumping through the room. It was a wonderful thing, music flowing through dreams as you slept. It was just what Vinyl needed as well. A mind full of creative possibilities was a good way to start off the day.
For now though, the speakers could use a little rest. With magic, the unicorn turned off the music. Vinyl was about eighty-five percent sure that Twinkle was not happy with her in the slightest. Heck, he probably got zero sleep last night because of it.
“Serves him right…” She grumbled out as she pushed aside the blackout curtains that kept the sun at bay. Judging by the sun, Vinyl guessed it was around ten o’clock. She didn’t get a lot of sleep, but she got what she required to function.
Quickly opening the window, she let the wind hit her. The summer was fading and fall was coming up fast. The first chill was starting to enter the breeze, bringing the first chance for Vinyl’s favorite time of year. Hoodie weather!
Hoodies had been something Vinyl had loved since she was a filly. They were warm, easy to wear, and accommodated a very casual lifestyle. Plus she could rock every color in the spectrum. Glory had attributed that fact to Vinyls color pallette, Vinyl had attributed it to the fact that she was just that good.
Closing the window, the mare spun on her hooves and walked to the closet. There was only one dilemma now; what hoodie to wear? Pink? Nah, she wasn’t feeling pink today. White? Nope, stained too easily. Black? Sure, why not.
Vinyl pulled out the black hoodie. It was a gift from her uncle that had her cutie mark embossed on the back in white stitching. ‘Branding’ he called it, said every musician needed to have their own mark. She had promised him that she would put it to good use one day.
The mare pulled the hoodie over her head, letting the warm fabric envelop her. There was a weight in the pocket that hung below her belly. Secretly, she hoped she left some cash in there in a drunken stupor or something. A quick search revealed a vintage tape recorder stowed away. It was a small gray box, a little bigger than her hoof. It had a microphone on one end that you could use to record things. Vinyl had used it to record thoughts when she thought she probably wouldn’t remember them in the aforementioned stupors. Just as she was about to hit play to see what words of wisdom lay on the tape, a knock came at the door.
“Scratch?” Twinkle, of course. Instinctively, she wanted to tell him to shut up and go away after the events of last night, but today was the start of hoodie weather. She was not going to let him ruin this for her.
“Yo.” Vinyl stashed the recorder back into the pocket, resolving to listen to it sometime later. Who knows, it might become useful at some point.
“We have to go to the castle today, so get ready and be presentable.” That wasn’t even a question! That was an order! Who did he think he was, ordering her around after what he said last night, did he just think that he could get away with anything now?
“Yeah, alright.” Vinyl called back out, letting more than a twinge of annoyance enter the words. She wasn’t going to let him get to her, but she would let him know that he was being a jerk.
Vinyl pushed open the door to see Shining Armor putting on his plated guard uniform. The stallion put his helmet on, his mane poking through the crest and creating a blue two-tone plume. It always struck Vinyl as odd that the guards used their own manes as plumes and didn’t use something else. Like, surely keeping a mane long enough to make a plume cause upkeep problems or something.
“I thought I told you to be presentable, Scratch.” The guard said as he turned and caught his first glimpse of the mare. “We’re going to the castle, not slumming it in Las Pegasus.” She only rolled her eyes.
“Totally presentable. Black is a fashion statement, don’t you know?” Vinyl turned around to show off the back of the hoodie. “Plus it has my cutie mark on it, and that’s class.” She turned back around to catch the look Twinkle was giving her, and she knew he was giving her one. This time it was an eye roll accompanied by a deadpan glare.
“Yeah, I hear hoodies are all the rage at the Gala this year.” He turned to the door. “Let’s go, I don’t want to waste time today.”
----
On the way to the castle Vinyl had tried to pry the reason for going to the royal abode out of Twinkle, but to no avail. He wasn’t budging on any front. This could only mean two things in Vinyl’s mind; either she was in even more trouble than before or she was going to be a free mare by the end of the day.
So now, here they both were standing outside of Princess Cadance’s room. Shining had gone in to see if the Princess was in her quarters, but his sigh let her know that the Princess was not here.
“Hey, Galea!” Shining shouted across the hall, his voice echoing down the marble pathways. He was trying to get the attention of a passing mare in dress uniform, a stunningly baby blue pony with cold gray eyes.
“Oh, Guard Shining Armor. I assume this has to be extremely important to interrupt me. After all, Captain Knock Out asked for these forms an hour ago and I just got done wringing them out of the bureaucrats’ hooves.” Vinyl was glad she had her hoodie, because that statement was ice cold. If there had been any more salt in those words, she was sure that all slugs within a twenty mile radius would have to be evacuated for fear of genocide.
“I was just wondering if you knew where Princess Cadance is. I have some urgent business I have to attend to and I was hoping she could help me.” For what it was worth, Shining didn’t show any signs of breaking underneath the thick coat of ice the mare’s words had doused him with. Vinyl had to at least admit he had one hell of a sense for professionalism.
“I do not know, Shining Armor. Do I look like I’m on Princess Patrol today?” There was a pause, as if Galea was looking for a response. “The correct answer was no, I do not look like I’m on Princess Patrol. If you want to know where she is, go find Stahlhelm, he’s supposed to be keeping an eye on her today.” With that, the icy mare started to walk away.
“Do you know where I can find Stahlhelm?” Shining called after her, a slight sense of desperation to his voice.
“Probably near Princess Cadance, Guardspony. Please try to use your head.” The mare called back. Vinyl could feel the pleased smirk from all the way back here coming from the mare. If this is what guards had to deal with, no wonder they were always in such a grumpy mood.
“Well that was useless,” Vinyl concluded. “Any clue where she could be?” Vinyl would offer an opinion, but frankly she had no idea the movements of a Princess. The best she could currently offer is sarcasm, but she felt the guard had suffered enough of a brow beating from Galea.
“No, not really.” The guardspony raised a hoof to his chin, stroking it thoughtfully. “Well, I guess we can just go straight to Celestia. I didn’t want to bother her right away...but without Cadance, I guess I don’t have a choice.” They were going to see Celestia personally? The last time they spoke to the monarch, they had discussed Twinkle’s ‘plan’ to reform Vinyl. “Well, come on. I at least know where Celestia is.”
“Throne room, I’m guessing.” Vinyl couldn’t think of anywhere else Princess Celestia would be. That’s what the leader of Equestria did all day in her mind, respond to petty quibbles from the commoners atop her mighty throne. What else was she supposed to do all day?
“No, it’s Tuesday. That means she is currently in Twily’s study at the top of the tallest tower in the castle.” That was an odd statement if Vinyl had ever heard one. She had to get some clarification.
“Twily? Like your sister?” Shining nodded. “She has her own study in the castle? And at the top of the tallest tower? Is she being guarded by a dragon too?” This was a bit too surreal for Vinyl, it was like a fairy tale became real and threw up all over his life.
“Well I wouldn’t say ‘guarding’.” Shining started off down the hall, leaving Vinyl to worry over the implications.
----
Princess Celestia really liked Tuesdays. It was certainly an odd thing to be partial to, but it held a lot of promise. Every seven days the ruling monarch was able to ascend to her student’s tower for the full day, forget about her duties and just relax and teach. It was soothing, and it was needed to relieve some of the stress.
“Any progress, Twilight?” Right now, the Princess was resting by the fireplace in the room reading a book. Teaching was indeed very important, but when it came to understanding the theory behind magic, Twilight didn’t need to be taught. It was practice that the filly had problems with.
“I’m trying, I just….I can’t…” There was struggle between words, a filly trying her best. Sadly, sometimes even the best wasn’t good enough. “It’s really hard.” Celestia turned to her dejected student. Now was some time for a little motivation. even the best students required it sometimes.
“Well if you don’t open it, we can’t eat.” Celestia looked towards the open jar of grape jam sitting next to a plate with four slices of bread lying depressingly bare of any foodstuffs. All they were waiting on was for Twilight to open the jar of peanut butter.
“Aww…” The student’s stomach let loose a low growl as her wide eyes stared at the jam. “Can’t we just have jam sandwiches?” The filly pleaded as she attempted to open the jar of peanut butter again, pulling at the cap with all of her magical might.
“I don’t like jam, I want peanut butter.” Well that wasn’t true, but it was a lesson. One Celestia had to learn to deal with a very long time ago: how to deal with picky eaters on their terms. In the long term it taught patience, and that was something Twilight needed.
“Why am I trying to open this then?” Twilight put the peanut butter down. The filly then stood up in righteous indignation before the Princess. “I just want a jam sandwich. I shouldn’t have to open it for you.”
“But Twilight-” Celestia suppressed a smile as she let her head rest gently on her hoof. “I’m so tired.” The Princess pouted at her student. “I’ve just been so worn out from all of my duties.”
“You were fine earlier.” As Twilight simply strode over to the Jam and bread, Celestia felt a pang of worry. Twilight’s social skills left something to be desired. Sure, the filly could hold a conversation but as soon as the topics changed to something that went against her interests she became very self-centered. It would take time, Celestia supposed. Her last student was the same way. Hopefully they both wouldn’t go down the same path.
“Princess Celestia?” The Monarch’s ears perked up when the voice came from the door. It was a voice that she, and her student knew very well. “Mind if we come in?”
“Shiny!” Twilight galloped to the door, opening it as she got close. Once her brother was in full view, he was tackle-hugged. “What are you doing here?”
“Well.” The stallion started. “ I need a bit of a favor from you and the Princess. Usually I wouldn’t ask, but you’re the only two ponies I could think of who could help.” That earned a raised eyebrow from Celestia. What could he need help with?
Trotting by the hugging sibling, Vinyl Scratch came in and gave a cursory glance around. She was wearing a sweater with a hood built in. That was a novel idea if Celestia had ever seen one. It looked quite comfortable as well given Vinyl’s relaxed look.
“It’s a bit of a sensitive matter, I was hoping to discuss it privately.” Shining Armor put down his little sister. Twilight went into curiosity mode, following Vinyl to see what the intruding stranger was up to.
“Well we are alone, Shining Armor. I can assure you of that.” Vinyl trotted over to the plates and started fixing herself a sandwich. A stubborn Twilight pulled at her hoodie and gave the older mare a defiant glare. “So sensitive matters can be discussed.” Vinyl held a finished sandwich out to the filly, who took it gleefully.
“Yeah, but….not totally alone.” Shining’s gaze fell on Vinyl, who was making herself a sandwich now. Twilight came over to Celestia and sat beside her mentor, gleefully munching on the sandwich.
“How sensitive is this, Shining Armor?” Celestia was very familiar with secrets, she just despised keeping them. Any secret worth keeping was going to damage something in one form or another.
“High-level-magic sensitive.” The hushed tone did nothing to calm Celestia’s worries. The last time somepony came to her with help on high level magic, she had taken in a new student the next day.
“Very well.” Celestia kept her voice level, as to not raise any worry from Twilight or suspicion from Vinyl. “Please go tell Lock to fetch Princess Cadance so she can look after Miss Scratch.” The younger alicorn had told Celestia about the night at the concert hall last night, and how Cadance felt a certain empathy for the mare. Shining Armor nodded and went just outside of the door to call a guard.
“Say, what is this thing? A stuffed animal? Looks kinda real…” Vinyl was looking at a purple and green ball that was curled up in a wool lined wicker basket. “It’s scaly.” The unicorn stated after touching it, which elicited a response. “It’s a dragon!” Vinyl stumbled back and attempted to scramble away from the yawning creature. Celestia could only laugh.
“No! I jus got him to sleep!” A very frustrated Twilight sprinted over to the little dragon. “It’s alright Spike. Shhh. Go back to sleep.” The little filly spoke quietly as she stroked the baby dragon’s back. “Please…”
“You let her keep a dragon?” Vinyl was still backing away, keeping her eyes squarely on the reptile. “Isn’t that a little dangerous?” Wild-eyed was usually the response for ponies seeing Spike for the first time. It was odd to see a dragon being raised around equines, like sheep keeping a wolf in their midst.
“Well she did hatch him. I cannot just take him away. That would be mean.” Vinyl’s bewildered stare could be translated to ‘you’re not going to explain that statement?’ “I have faith in her Vinyl, so should you.” Deep down, Celestia knew that Vinyl or anypony else didn’t really have a choice to trust Twilight. It was already written in the stars and stones, nothing could change it.
“Yeah, okay. If it’s cool with you, I’m gonna hang out over here.” Celestia nodded towards a pillow, motioning the unicorn to sit. Vinyl obliged and took a seat next to the Princess.
“Cadance informed me you went to the orchestra with her and Shining Armor. How did that go?” A spark hit the mare’s eyes, and a warm smile spread across her face. “That good?”
“I’ve always wanted to go since I was little.” Vinyl’s hoof tapped against the floor, tapping out a beat. “They used two of your personal pieces. That was a best part, y’know? Being one of the few ponies to hear that in nopony-knows how long, that was special.” A twinge of heartache hit the Princess. It was a longing for a time when one of those songs didn’t need to be played, a time when Moonfall didn’t exist. A happier time.
“I was glad to lend the pieces to the orchestra. I only wish I could have been there to hear them as well.” Celestia lamented. “Perhaps an encore performance is necessary? I hear that perhaps the replacement cellist deserves another turn in the spotlight.”
“If I had brought this thing with me, maybe I could’ve recorded it.” Vinyl pulled a vintage tape recorder from her sweater’s central pocket. With her magic, Vinyl pressed the play button.
“You have to hit these two buttons to record. Then you just talk into this mi-” The voice was gentle, fatherly. The pronunciation of some of the words lead Celestia to believe he was from Hoofington or an area close to it. Before Celestia could pin it down, the voice was cut off by Vinyl.
“I was wondering where that went…” The mare mumbled as she put the recorder back into her pocket much more gently than she had removed it.
“Alright. Cadance is here.” Shining Armor came back into the room followed by the aforementioned Princess. “I suppose I should get to it, then.” The guard started moving towards Vinyl with his horn glowing.
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Vinyl stood up and started moving away from the stallion. “Remember what I said? I’m not too keen on having stallions just cast spells on me.” Vinyl lit up her own horn, obviously trying to send a message to Shining Armor.
“Would you really assault me, Scratch?” Shining concentrated and a pink line of magic materialized in the room. It visibly connected both he and Vinyl’s horns. “I’m just severing the bind. You’re going with Cadance for the day while I deal with some other things.”
“What sort of things do you have to ‘deal with’, Twinkle?” The magic tether snapped. Shining Armor nodded to his love, who fired up her horn. “Can I get any answers today? Like at all? Everypony just keeps dodging my questions or not answering them and it is really starting to piss me off!”
“You and Cadance are going to gather up the census records that Princess Celestia said she put together. Then you’re going to go to Skyward Glory’s and figure that out.” Cadance’s magic reached out to Vinyl and attached to her horn. Celestia knew it was another binding spell and that Vinyl would most likely not be happy about it. One look at the unicorn’s face confirmed that suspicion.
“What about you? Are you just going to be skulking around Canterlot?” Shining Armor strode up to the ruler of the land, ignoring Vinyl. “See? That! That is really starting to get to me! Is something wrong?” Vinyl’s panic was becoming more and more apparent, reaching her eyes now.
“It will be alright, Vinyl Scratch.” Princess Celestia found her words echoed by Cadance, who uttered the same line just a half-second after the monarch.
“That definitely didn’t help!” Vinyl protested. The pearlescent mare then looked towards the filly tending to a baby dragon. “This is all kinda creepy, right? I can’t be the only one.” All Vinyl got was a shrug in response.
“The census records are being held by the head librarian, Cadance. He’ll give them to you, just say this is for Vinyl Scratch’s rehabilitation.” The Princess nodded towards the pink pony, who gave a respectful nod in return.
“Come on, Vinyl. We have a lot of work to do.” Vinyl just looked towards Shining Armor, searching for something in the stallion’s cobalt eyes. She found nothing but the same confusion she already knew.
“I don’t really have a choice. I just want you to know that I am really really against whatever is going on in this room after I leave.” Vinyl exited the room, following her new chaperone into the stairwell. “This is some illumarenati bullsh-” The door to the tower room shut.
“Very well Shining Armor. What is so sensitive that we had to send your charge into a paranoid meltdown?” Celestia let a hint of displeasure enter her voice to let the guard know just how much she disliked this.
“It’s for her own good, Princess Celestia. I knew that if she knew what I was doing, she would object to it in its entirety.” Shining finally relaxed and let all the emotions flood back into his body. He had been holding them in as to not give Vinyl any clue to what was going on.
“She did say she was ‘really really against’ what we were going to do in here. So I think the proverbial bullet has still not been dodged, Shining Armor.” If there was one thing Celestia did not like, it was losing the faith of the ponies in her kingdom. She had lost that once long ago, and would not let anything like that happen again.
“She’s always like that. I didn’t want her to fight me on this, though.” Shining Armor sighed and sat on the pillow that Vinyl had occupied only minutes ago. “I found something in her apartment last night, and I could really use your help with it.” Celestia’s interest was now thoroughly piqued. What could be so extreme that he had to come to her? It was a little like going to the supreme court for a slap-fight. “I-it’s not anything illegal.” The guard added, seeing her expression. “But it’s magical, so I need your and Twilight’s help.”
Now the purple pony’s interest was captured as well. She came trotting over to her big brother, head cocked to the side. “What kind of magic?”
“I found a room behind a bookcase in her apartment. It was her parent’s. It had been boarded up for what seemed like years. There was a lot of…” Shining stopped and shivered a bit, remembering something awful it seemed.
“A build-up of residual magical energy?” Twilight chimed in. Her brother nodded, confirming the filly’s guess. “How much? How many years do you think it’s been building? Could you hear them or were they whispers? How many ponies?” A flood of questions poured from the student, more already being prepared. Celestia raised a gilded hoof to her apprentice.
“How bad?” The Princess asked.
“Bad. I could hear everything, not just quietly. They were loud, like ponies were still there. You could feel every moment, every emotion…” Celestia rested a hoof on her loyal guard’s shoulder. That much magical build-up could be dangerous to unicorns, make them act out. It was worse the longer it went on. “We need to dissipate it, for Vinyl. I think it will help.”
“Twilight, if you would please fetch the-” Before she could finish the sentence, Twilight was already up on her hooves and searching for the correct book. “Thank you, Twilight.” Celestia then turned back towards Shining. “I think we can do that.”
----
“So you don’t know what he’s doing?” Vinyl asked Cadance for the fourth time since they left the castle. It was the tenth time since the exited the tower study. Vinyl didn’t trust Shining Armor at all. He had lost all faith and trust last night, and it would take a long time or a miracle for him to earn it back.
“No Vinyl. I told you, he just told me I needed to take his place for most of the day. That’s all I know.” Cadance was becoming frustrated, Vinyl could feel it. Sure, the Princess would never let it slip that it was but Vinyl knew.
“It’s ridiculous! What could he possibly need to talk to Princess Celestia about without me? Am I in trouble? Aw man, what if he’s getting me thrown into a dungeon or something?” Vinyl knew the hyperbole may not be appropriate or accurate, but she felt like sharing her nerves with her brand new chaperone.
“I’m not sure what he’s doing. I know that we’re here, though.” Vinyl’s attention was drawn to the simple two-story home that acted as an orphanage. Even the sight of it made a pit form deep in the unicorn’s stomach.
“This is just the topper on the cake, isn’t it? Last time I was here was bad enough. Crying, hugs, I hit her, Shining knocked me out…” Vinyl’s mind drifted back to a few days ago. Was Glory going to forgive her? Get mad? Get even? What was in store behind those doors?
“Sounds eventful.” Cadance replied as she ascended the stairs to knock on the door. The familiar voice came from the other side, announcing the door was going to be opened soon.
“That should be on my tombstone. Vinyl Scratch: 1970-1991 ‘Sounds Eventful.’” There was no laugh from the Princess. Twinkle would have laughed at that, or at least responded with a with something witty or infuriating.
“P-Princess Cadance. O-Oh my, please come in!” Glory opened the door, straightening her mane as she caught a glimpse of the alicorn. “Vinyl? Oh no, what’s happened now? Is Shining Armor alright? Did Vinyl hurt him? She didn’t mean to, she can just get a bit aggressive sometimes!” Glory’s rapid defense of Vinyl made the pony feel worse than she already did about the previous incident. You punch a pony and they jump to your defense. Who could stay mad at that?
“I assure you that Shining is alright Ms. Glory. I’m just taking care of Vinyl for the day and was told to come here to look over some census records with you.” The Princess motioned towards the bags on her back, filled to the brim with papers. “She’s not in any trouble.”
The worst part about this situation as a whole was how often ponies talked about Vinyl like she wasn’t even there. Vinyl was so used to being talked at or to, that just being talked about was an odd feeling. Especially when she was three feet away from the participants in the conversation.
“Thank Celestia…” The pegasus mare sighed loudly. “I was thinking something awful had happened. Please, come in. Come in.” Glory moved aside, allowing the two ponies ingress. “How are you doing, Vinyl?” There was no hug this time. Not that Vinyl thought she deserved one.
“I’m alright…” Vinyl decided to deflect the topic. “Are you alright? After I punched you I thought it might leave a mark.” Vinyl didn’t see any swelling or bruises around the daisy yellow mare’s jawline. Perhaps she hadn’t struck her sister as hard as she thought.
“It’s fine. I rebound quick, you know that.” They both shared a smile and thoughts of happier times. “Come in, please. I bet you’re as eager to get this going as I am.” Vinyl trotted into the house. Two little earth ponies sped by her, chasing a pegasus that was buzzing along just above the floor. “I have a bit of help today, so they’ll take care of the foals while we’re busy. Set up in the dining room and I’ll be there in a moment.”
Vinyl and Cadance both went into the dining room. An elongated wooden table laid bare of anything except for a floral centerpiece. This would be their base of operations for however long this little venture took. Silently, they both started taking out folders and loose papers from the saddlebags and began organizing them into piles based on towns.
“She seems nice.” The Princess finally spoke as she took a seat next to the head of the table.
“Nice is an understatement.” Vinyl responded as she straightened a pile of papers. “Glory’s too nice for her own good sometimes.” This stack read ‘Appleloosa’. Vinyl didn’t know where Glory took the foal, but she hoped it wasn’t that dustbowl.
“It makes sense you’re sisters. Siblings tend to compliment each other’s personalities.” Cadance gave the unicorn a smile. “Just like Shining and Twilight. A by the books prodigy and a pragmatic sweetheart.”
“Well I appreciate the compliment but I don’t know if I’m ready for pet names, Princess.” It took a few seconds for Cadance to get the joke. As soon as she did though, it earned a bit of a laugh. “But Glory did always get the better grades.”
“And Vinyl always did work more in theories.” Glory came into the room, her mane having been brushed and straightened. “Like ‘theoretically, if I can get away with this’ is how most of her bad ideas started.” Vinyl scoffed.
“My bad ideas? I’m not the one who got stuck up in a tree in Canterlot Gardens because I wanted a royal apple, now was I?” Vinyl placed her card on the table and waited for GLory to retaliate. This is how it was supposed to go. Just banter back and forth. No fighting.
“Hey, how was I supposed to know there were magical vines in the trees? Nopony ever told me.” Glory sat at the head of the table, between Vinyl and Cadance.
“The ponysnatcher vines! I remember those!” Cadance clapped her hooves together, a smile crossing her features. “They got rid of those years ago. They were so dangerous!” Now Vinyl had her ace in the hole for sure.
“Yeah. Why do you think they got rid of them?” She jerked her head towards the pegasus in the room. “A little pegasus got tied to a tree branch.” Glory’s face turned bright red as she looked to the princess.
“No!” Vinyl and Glory both nodded. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that story was true! I thought that was just some strawpony argument they used to get rid of them!” There was a moment of silence, then they all three broke out into raucous laughter. After the laughter had died, the Princess pulled a file close to herself. “I suppose we should get down to business?”
“Yeah.” The pit in Vinyl’s stomach deepened as the seconds went on. This was going to be one of those times where she was going to use a lot of self-control. Otherwise this would end prematurely and in tears. “I guess...let’s go over the facts.” Vinyl’s voice was a low mumble now.
“She’s an earth pony. A filly…” Glory’s hooves were fidgeting across the table, and her wings twitched. These were the signs of a very nervous pony, Vinyl had learned the telltale signs of Glory having a breakdown to know. “When she was born her coat was pink...a bit lighter than my mane...her mane was yellow, like her father’s eyes…” There was a pause.
“We need to know where you took her, Glory.” Cadance’s hoof reached out and rested on the pegasus’. “Where did you leave her?”
“I-it was the first stop on the midnight train. I-It was a village. Small. Cottages with thatched tops. I-I don’t remember the name.” Tears were now streaming down her face and her free hoof rested on her stomach. “Ville. Something ville…”
Vinyl and Cadance shuffled through piles of paperwork, looking for any towns ending in -Ville. Vinyl pulled a few out, while Cadance only found one result.
“Gallopsville, Reignersville, or Ponyville?” The Princess read off the names. “Any of these can be reached by train from Canterlot.” They each looked around the table. Now all they had to do was find the foal in the piles of paperwork. If she even stayed in the town where she was left.
An hour later
They had their target. Through a lot of guessing and reading, they had narrowed it down to one little filly in the small hamlet of Ponyville. Against all the odds and paperwork, Vinyl had been calm and receptive enough to get through this whole ordeal without getting angry.
“Lilly Valley. Age six. Pink coat, golden mane with pale streaks and golden eyes.” GLory read the page, tears once again welling in her eyes. “This is her. This is my daughter…”
----
“Right!” Shining grunted as he moved the bookcase from in front of the secret door. “It’s right in here. Twilight, you might wanna hang back, it’s pretty rough.” He looked towards his little sister’s mentor, who insisted on coming with them to make sure her student could adequately handle the feat.
“Twilight is going to be in there for a long time, Shining Armor. The quicker she gets used to it, the better she’ll be able to concentrate later.” As Shining opened the door, Celestia urged her student into the room. As soon as the first step was taken into the abandoned bedroom, it was retreated. Celestia could feel it too, powerful and loud. Like a hurricane of magic and emotion, it raged within the confines of the room. “It’s alright, Twilight. Remember, it’s just loose magic.”
“It’s strong…” The filly took a few steps into the room. Her ears were laid flat and her eyes were wide. “Really strong.”
“That’s what happens when a place is left to soak in the magical energy left behind. Normally it would be absorbed and used by other ponies, but left alone it just feeds on itself. It grows in an echo chamber of its own creation, channeling emotions and memories left behind.” Celestia put a long white wing over her small student. “This is why it’s important to move on, Twilight. Memories and nightmares of the past will catch up to you and cause pain. Not just to yourself, but everypony else as well.”
If there was one thing Shining Armor loved, it was when Celestia was teaching a lesson. The Princess was eloquent and wise, knowledgeable about almost any subject. If Twilight was ever scared or unsure, Celestia would reassure her with kind words and knowledge beyond all possible years.
“I think I can do it.” Twilight’s ears raised again as she lit her horn. “Should I try the spell?” Celestia approved with a nod. Now was the moment that Shining was holding his breath for. If this spell worked, then it could be done.
Twilight concentrated. The light from her horn poured out across the room. Tendrils of purple magic found purchase on several invisible objects. The tendrils drilled into dozens of objects around the room. Purple light gave shape to disembodied silhouettes of countless ponies. Some young, some grown, some mares, some stallions. All memories, though.
“Wow…” Shining Armor could only watch as the purple shadow ponies moved around the room, reenacting the past. It was like a light show, all made possible through magic.
“Now all we’ll have to do is pick out the individual moments and have them unraveled and dissipated from the room.” Twilight let her horn’s light die, the shadow ponies going with the light. Twilight then sat down, sweat trickling down her forehead. “I think Twilight might need some help, though. That is quite a lot of magic in there.” Shining could only nod. This was not his field. “I can help her channel all of your magic to make it easier, but it will take a lot of cooperation and open energies.”
“I can do it. Cadance too.” Shining reassured the Princess. He would be more than willing to lend his magic to get this done. It would be easy enough. “I’m not too sure about Vinyl, though.” That was going to be the hurdle in all of this, Vinyl Scratch.
“I will speak with her. She’ll see it our way in the end.” Celestia turned and put a hoof on Shining Armor’s shoulder. “This is for her own good.” That’s what he had been telling himself from day one. It was for her own good. The only question left was if Vinyl realized that or not.
----
Two royal guards being posted outside of VInyl’s apartment sparked her ever-growing dread. That was one more guard than was usual and two more guards than she was comfortable with.
“Good afternoon, gentlecolts.” Cadance nodded to both of the guards, who just stood still. Looking forever forward with determined gazes. “Can we go in?” The one on the left, completely indistinguishable from the one on the right, nodded and opened the door.
As soon as she entered, Vinyl’s heart jumped into her throat. The bookcase was moved and the door was open! Who was in her parent’s room? Why were they in there? Vinyl was across the apartment within seconds. Inside were Princess Celestia, Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle. All three of them ponies that should not know that room even existed.
“What are you doing in here?” Vinyl’s temper was rising, she could feel the heat of her own anger passing up her ears. “Why are you in this room? Get out!” She slammed her front hooves on the ground. “All of you! Now!”
“Scratch. Calm down. I can explain.” Shining raised a hoof, his eyes seeming to be earnest like always. That didn’t calm Vinyl down though, it only served to enrage her further. HE could explain? He could explain entering a room he had no right to know about? To invade a place that nopony had the right to?
“Shut up and get out! All of you!” Vinyl roared, too many memories and voices in this room invading her mind and just making it all the more vile that they were in here. Vinyl lept at the stallion, intending to do celestia-knows-what. She would not get the chance, though. IN a split-second she was held in place mid-air by a light yellow aura.
“Vinyl Scratch. Listen to me.” Vinyl could not swivel her head to look at the source of the voice, but she knew it was Princess Celestia. There was so much authority in that voice, but not tyrannical. It was kind. “We are trying to help you. Do you understand?” Vinyl did not respond. There was too much going through her mind. “Vinyl. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.”
Vinyl did not as she was asked, but as she was told. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she could make out her own thoughts now behind all of the noise. She wanted to cry. It was that simple. There were so many reasons she closed off this room. There was so much that upset her about it, so much that pissed her off about it.
“Are you calm? Can I let you down?” Vinyl could only try to nod, but it obviously got through. A few moments later she was put gently onto the floor. Where she stood is promptly where she broke down. Tears streamed down her face from bloodshot eyes. She wanted to leave. She wanted everypony to leave this place and her alone forever.
“I-I’m sorry...I’m so sorry.” Vinyl couldn’t look any of these ponies in the eyes. ALl she would see is shame and disgust. “I-I just..I just want you all to get out of here. You’re not supposed to be here…”
“We’re going to help you.” Twinkle spoke now, his voice low and calm. “There’s a lot of magic in this place, a lot of magic. It’s...it’s interfering with your emotions and thoughts. It’s your parents.” That was the last thing Vinyl wanted to hear. Her parents weren’t to blame here, it was her own failures as a daughter and a pony. She had failed to move on and she knew it.
“Ponies. We leave behind much more than memories, Vinyl.” PRincess Celestia came over and let her wing drape around the white unicorn. “Every action we take, every moment we make, every feeling we have. They make an imprint in this world. LIke a glacier, we come in and shape the landscape around us, only to leave scars when we leave. These scars never leave. Not until another comes and replaces them. Not until the world keeps moving and others fill it in, it won’t go away.” Vinyl managed to look up into the eyes of the Princess. The monarch was smiling warmly. “You parents left their mark on this room. In a way they’re still here, their energies overwhelming this place. We need to get rid of them, but we can’t do it without your help.”
Vinyl understood in the most basic way. Her parents, their lives had left something behind. Something that was lingering and building. If it needed to be done….if the Princess said it needed to be done, Vinyl would allow it.
“H-how…?”
“We just need you and Cadance to open your mind. LIght your horns and let the magic flow freely. Twilight and I will do the rest.” The monarch stood up and looked towards the others and nodded, then back down to the Vinyl. “This might bring up some bad memories. I have to warn you.”
Vinyl stood up, her legs shaky and weak. Slowly, she walked to the foot of the bed and did as Celestia instructed. Closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let her magic flow free. Once she opened her eyes she saw the others were doing the same. All except Twilight, who was concentrating. Celestia went to her pupil and spoke softly and slowly as to not break Twilight’s concentration.
“Focus. Feel the magic in the room. The flowing magic, not the stagnant. Take theirs and mold it into yours.” Celestia’s horn lit up as well, her magic guiding and herding the other multi-colored clouds of magic into Twilight’s own. “Now take theirs and focus on a moment. One specific one and then pull the thread. Let it all unravel, dissipate, make it yours.”
A figure burst into existence at the entrance to the room, right by Princess Cadance. It was lanky, the outline making it’s mane out to be a mess.
“This is the master bedroom!” The figure’s voice was distorted, like talking through a filter. It was easily recognizable though. It’s soft accent dragged over each word with a Manechester accent.
“Are you sure mommy will like it?” A small pony, a filly, followed the older stallion. Her silhouette showed curls in her mane and a youthful glow in her step. “It’s kinda small.” The stallion spun on his hooves and knelt to the filly’s height.
“Well all good things start small, Vinyl! Look at me, once upon a time I was as small as you. Now look at me, tall as a tree and twice as great as any old oak!” This elicited a giggle from the filly. “You’ll be great as well, I can feel it.” The unicorn stallion picked up the filly with his magic. “I mean not as tall as me, I hope. Hopefully twice as great. No! Three times as great!” The filly was put on the stallion’s back. “Now onwards! To ice cream!” The silhouette sped out of the room, disappearing into a puff of magic as soon as it crossed the threshold.
It was all so real. Too real. Vinyl couldn’t even remember that, but it had happened. That conversation was real. Just as she was, and just as her father was. It left her emotionally drained.
“That was right after we got the apartment…” Vinyl mumbled, tears gathering. “That was my dad…” Him and his personality were just as big as she remembered. Too big for this world. Too optimistic and full of wonder.
“What was his name, Vinyl?” She didn’t know who was speaking. The unicorn was too engrossed in memories. She felt the need to answer, though.
“Long Play. Everypony just called him LP. He is...he was the owner of a record shop here in Canterlot.” Vinyl laughed a short, cynical laugh. “He and mom sold everything to come here, to take a chance.” She blinked away the tears in her eyes. “Always the optimist.”
“Find another, Twilight.” Celestia urged her student onwards. “Find a thread and pull.”
It took a minute, but two figures entered the room. The stallion from earlier and a full grown mare. LP seemed to be sopping wet. The mare eagerly pushed him inside and then shut the door behind her.
“We can’t do this, LP!” The mare spoke first. There wasn’t anger in her voice, but concern. “We just can’t take her in. We need to call the guards and send her back to her father.” The voice was not Manechester influenced like LP, it was a distinct Canterlot accent. High class.
“Whammy you heard what she said. We can’t let her go back to that…..horse.” The last word was laced with disgust and poison. Whoever they were talking about was not in good favor. “I’m not going to let her go back. Not to that.”
“We can’t just keep her, LP! That’s foalnapping!” The mare, Whammy, sat down on the bed right by where Shining Armor stood. “We aren’t foalnappers! We’re good ponies.”
“Let me put it to you like this, dearest.” LP sat beside the mare, letting her head rest against his torso. “If, Celestia forbid, something happened to you and I was left with Vinyl all alone...if I was treating her like that little filly’s father treats her, would you want me to keep her?” There was a moment of hesitation, the tension felt even through time and magic.
“I don’t feel right about it. She has family, a life. It doesn’t matter if she ran away, foals do irrational things all of the time.” Whammy sighed deeply. “I feel like we need to do more than just give up and take responsibility for another filly.” The stallion lifted the mare’s chin so that they were looking each other in the eyes.
“If it will make you feel better you and I can go to Cloudsdale tomorrow. We’ll leave the fillies with my brother in town, then we’ll see if anypony is looking for her. Any posters or anything with the local guards.” Each word was measured and careful, he was trying his best to convince his wife of his idea. LP gave Whammy a peck on the lips. “If not...well then maybe we’ll resort to foalnapping.” THe twinge of humor made the unicorn mare laugh.
“We’ll be regular criminals. Like a modern day Bonnet and Clydesdale.” The two ponies stood up, but not leaving the other’s embrace.
“Well don’t say that. You know how that story ended.” The couple made their way to the door, LP grabbing something and bringing it over to them.
“They were together.” Whammy nuzzled her mate tenderly. “Same way I want to go.”
“Well, same. Obviously. I just can’t help but feel like you’re missing the point, dearest.” The fatherly figure opened the door with his hoof and held it open for his wife. “Alright fillies! Onward to hot chocolate!” Whammy and two unseen little ponies in the livingroom all gave a hearty cheer at the mention of the warm treat.
“My mom...she was from here in Canterlot.” Now Vinyl was just talking without prompting. She felt like it was helping somehow. each word felt like it lifted a little more weight off of her chest. “She met dad in Las Pegasus. She was touring with her indie band, he was following them around on tour. They fell in love…” The story had been told to her innumerable times over her life. To Vinyl, it was a love story as old as time itself. One she hoped to replicate someday.
“They seemed like they were in love.” Cadance chimed in, her words warm and full of pride. “Very in love. I could feel it.”
“Mom’s name was Whammy Bar. She was a guitarist. She loved me and dad more than she did her music. She decided to give up on her dream and help dad, raise a family.” Vinyl started to cry again. “She gave up everything for us…” Vinyl couldn’t finish her thought because another scene flashed to life.
This time it was Vinyl and her father kneeling beside the bed rummaging through an old box. Her dad pulled something out from the box. Immediately she knew what it was and pulled the same old tape recorder from her hoodie pocket.
“What’s that, daddy?” Little Vinyl jumped onto the bed to get a better look at what her father was holding. “It looks old.”
“Old and cool.” LP was messing with the object, the magical shapes giving no detail to what he was doing. “Just like your old man.” The stallion reached his hoof out to ruffle the little filly’s mane. “It’s a tape recorder. You can put a tape in there and play it, y’know listen to some jams. Or, and this is the cool part, you can record things with it. I used to make mixtapes for your mother all of the time.” Vinyl messed with the object in her hooves, getting ready to press play. “See-” The stallion started to say. Then Vinyl hit the play button to synchronize with the magical scene taking place. “You have to hit these two buttons to record. Then you just talk into this microphone and voila! You’re recording!”
The other ponies looked to VInyl. Seeing the tape recorder in her hooves, they all decided to keep to themselves and enjoy the scene. Revel in the warming family moments.
“Daddy! Can you read that thing into the recorder? That thing you read to me before bed sometimes?” The tape recorder and past scene echoed little Vinyl’s words. The stallion in the scene got up and picked something up from the dresser. From the look in the present, it was a framed poem.
“Alright Miss Scratch. Director extraordinaire. Tell me when to go.” The filly pointed enthusiastically at her father, signalling him to begin.
“An Ode To Life
By P. Rose.
A life wasted waiting
Is a life of waiting wasted.
Life should never be grating.
And never satiated.
My father once said
Eyes full of magic
‘Stay in bed
and nothing will be tragic.’
I disagree with what he told
I wanted to move on
I always wanted to be bold
So I went with brain instead of brawn
I thought new thoughts
and loved everything I saw.”
Vinyl had been reciting the old poem with her father in the present. As the scene evaporated into magic, the tape died as well. It took a while for Vinyl to be able to understand the poem to its full extent, for her to connect why her father loved it so much. It’s because it was his philosophy. Try new things, keep moving, never slow down. It’s why his ‘catchphrase’ as the family called it, was ‘Onward!’
Another scene started, like this whole scenario was reaching a climax, each scene coming faster than the last. There was a sense of finality just over the horizon, everypony could feel the magical weight in the room being lifted.
“They were just here….just yesterday…” A teenage Vinyl and Skyward Glory appeared sitting on the bed. Glory had her wings wrapped tightly around Vinyl, a thing the pegasi did to comfort their own. “Sky...they can’t be gone, right? It-it has to be a bad dream…” Vinyl’s voice was shaking, she had been crying. “I just want this to be a dream, please…” The unicorn rocked back and forth in her sister’s grasp. Gentle sobs came and went as the two held each other. “I just want them to be here. I just want them to come back.”
“I know, Vinyl...I know.” Glory kissed Vinyl’s forehead lovingly, not letting go of her sister for one moment. “I want them back too. I miss them so much...but we still have each other, right? You remember what dad used to say? He used to say ‘Fillies!’” Glory was putting on a horrible replica of LP’s accent, one that made the present Vinyl smile. “‘As long as you have each other, not one thing can stop you! Vinyl and Sky, unstoppable for all of time itself! Now, onwards to the future!’” Glory’s hoof was raised in half-hearted triumph. “I want you to remember that, alright? If you have me and I have you, we’re unstoppable. Never forget me...I always have your back.”
The memory faded away. When it left, a feeling came to Vinyl’s heart. Regret. After all they had been through together, after a whole life spent together...Vinyl just threw away Glory. She threw away the only sister she had ever had. For the first time, that thought genuinely hurt.
“Sky, where were you? I looked all over the city for you. You weren’t at the hospital, the castle. Where have you been all night?” A fully grown Vinyl Scratch stood in the doorway to the room, a sopping wet Skyward Glory sat on the bed. “Are you alright? Where’s your foal?” A cold sense of dread washed over the room, both in the past and present.
“Vinyl…I’m so sorry…” The past Vinyl took a few cautious steps into the room. “I just...I just couldn’t. Rusty, he left. He just left…”
“Sky, what happened?” That was it, the moment Vinyl could pinpoint the cold realization hit her. “What did you do?” No answer from the mare on the bed. “Sky, please...please tell me you didn’t…” The sentence was not finished, the statement hanging in the air, building the tension between the two.
“I gave her away, Vinyl. I couldn’t do it. My real father didn’t love me, Rusty didn’t love me...what hope did I have of loving that filly? Of that filly loving me?” The silhouette Vinyl collapsed to her knees. Skyward Glory kept her back to the door.
“I love you, Sky! Mom and Dad loved you! That filly will love you more than you can imagine. More than you can ever know. Now c’mon, where is she, Sky? Just tell me, we can both take care of her. That’s what family does, right? Look after each other.” Now the Vinyl in the present was starting to break down. She didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to hear at what was going to come next. It was going to break her spirit all over again.
“I don’t know, Vinyl. I got on a train and just went...I left her on a doorstep. I don’t know where. I just couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t stand the feeling of not loving my own foal, of her not loving me…”
“NO!” Both of the Vinyls screamed in unison. The magic-made one in rage, the real one out of sadness. “No….not again. I can’t. Please make it stop, I can’t do it anymore.” Vinyl finally laid down,covering her ears and eyes. “I can’t hear this again, I can’t!” She was practically begging now. Somepony had to oblige her. They had to!
“I hope she’s dead, Vinyl.” The magic Vinyl lept at Skyward Glory, pinning her to the bed. The real Vinyl was shaking and crying while the others looked on with tears in their eyes.
“Twilight...please end it.” Celestia whispered to her pupil, who complied. All of the magic in the room died and it all went black.
.
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Is this Twilight's childish pronunciation or a misspelling?
Capitalization.
6791016
See kids, this is why we don't write when we're tired. Spelling mistakes. I will fix these.
I'll take "unrealistic fantasy of a child raising a baby" for 500.
Seriously. They just leave Spike when they go handle Vinyl's apartment. That's not how you handle infants.
I just can't see social dunce "If it's not something she cares about she gets very self-centered" Twilight Sparkle being capable of giving an infant the care it needs, especially if she has to balance the probably demanding work Celestia gives. Raising infants is stressful.
It can only work if you have a metric ton of buts. A ton of exceptions as to why it's okay or why there are people to pick up the slack or how Twilight doesn't become a stressed out mess of a filly or why the whole "if it's not something she's interested she gets self-centered" thing doesn't apply to Spike or "She takes care of him every day, but only for a couple hours" or whatnot. Which means it is hard pressed to work in any story not explicitly dealing with it.
... The rest of the chapter was really good though, this is just something I've thought about too much and have a very hard time believing is healthy for either Twilight or Spike. Maybe I should just assume all those exceptions are in the background.
6791589
I felt like I didn't need to go into detail about how Spike is taken care of generally or what they do when they're not in the castle.
There's always going to be that suspension of disbelief, and sometimes you may et asked to stretch it a bit farther than usual. Truth be told, I'm not all that happy with that part of the chapter either. It has some issues. I can only hope the rest of the chapter more than makes up for its shortcomings.
6791601
Yeah... I mean it's not like it's likely that Celestia would allow Twilight to have her studies/life destroyed by Spike's presence, so she would handle that. And having to explain it would be pretty distracting from the story proper, so the one sentence Celestia says to Scratch was pretty much the only opportunity to explain anything.
Like I said, I am inordinately focused on Spike. For someone who's not, this probably comes and goes like normal, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Howabout a real comment, though.
Lily Valley... Lily...
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/7/19/377850__safe_solo_screencap_frown_flower_lily_lily+valley_flower+in+hair_a+friend+in+deed_lily+%28flower%29.png
Oh the horror girl?
I guess her being the same age as Twilight makes sense, though. Or a bit younger (depending on Twi's age).
... She definitely doesn't leave Ponyville though...
6792316
All according to plan.
This went down VERY fast. Man the feels at the end......
6794163
So good?
6795515 Yeah, the story is good bro, just the feels....
6792344 So that is her? Got it.
That was an amazing chapter
6798872
Thanks! There was a lot of rewriting that went into it. I'm glad the end result is something people like.
6791617
Oh my god, I cant help but laugh at the irony of this statement now that the comic about Baby Spike and Twilight is out and that's EXACTLY what Celestia did.
7160703
Me: "Surely they would know that a child raising a child is a bad situation, that could hurt both of those children, right? Surely they would try to avoid or explain away those implications in the comic."
The comic: "Twilight falls apart trying to take care of a child and support a full school workload, treats Spike pretty crappy, and only accepts him after he tries to help her. It's a metric ton of unfortunate implications."
The author: "I didn't mean it! It's supposed to be a sweet story about Twilight learning to appreciate another person!"
Me:
Huh, interesting.
Hah!
Ooo, so a magical exorcism, so to speak.
Now that's an unsurprising reaction.
Dang, harsh backstory.
...
Well I... honestly have no words to say to this... cept holy crap...
That backstory man is... tragic... no, that's not a good enough word.
Damn dude... good work on this...
Whew.
This is like Lyra playing a harp, expertly done, and tugs at your heartstrings. Well done!
I'm sad now
*raises hand sheepishly*
Um... I don't get the joke
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/362/706/195.png
cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder537/62359537.jpg
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!
Yes, a quality like "existence" would be a good start
8656893
Yeah she had no social skills