• Published 9th Oct 2015
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Major and Minor - Lady Froey



Vinyl Scratch goes through the hardship of her teenage years.

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Chapter 5 - Truth

Vinyl groaned as the train hit another bump and she lost her place in her magazine yet again. She and her mother had several hours to go before they’d finally be home in Ponyville. They were in the same kind of luxury car they’d taken to Canterlot, but the glamour of their surroundings seemed duller today. Vinyl found her place again and resumed reading; it was a news magazine she’d picked up while waiting at the train station. Claret simply looked out the window silently.

“So, what happened at the hospital yesterday?” Vinyl asked. “What did they say?”

“Hmm?” Claret was zoned out, half-watching the passing scenery outside the train car’s window.

“What did the doctors say at the hospital? You didn’t say much last night.” Vinyl asked again, focusing her attention on her mother.

“Oh, they said it was nothing serious.” She cleared her throat. “I just have to go on more medications to prevent future incidents.”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. Claret said nothing further, so Vinyl shrugged it off. “All right.” She stared at her magazine, only half-reading as the train rumbled beneath them.


Throughout the latter days of summer, things were quiet in the household. The usual sound of the piano was gone, and the song of the cicadas was not enough to fill its void. More often than not, Vinyl was out of the house hanging out with Derpy or running errands for her mother.

“Hey, Mom,” Vinyl said, sitting across from her mother in the living room. “I’m hungry. Do you want to go out for lunch?”

“Just bring me something on the way back.”

“Are you sure? It’s only a short walk from here to the cafe.”

“I’m sure, I am just…” Claret yawned. “Tired.”


Without the use of her magic for a long period of time, she had to spend a week re-learning how to use her hooves for daily tasks. Simple things like reading a book wasn’t a problem at all. Writing, however, was different; she spent hours learning how to write out basic shapes and letters by holding a pen in her mouth, but the metal taste she couldn’t get used to.

“Hey, Mom. Derpy and I were going to go to the park; do you want to come with us?”

“No thank you,” Claret said, focusing on her work. “You two go ahead and have fun.”


Vinyl slouched in her chair, not reading the book splayed across her lap. The clock ticked agonizingly slowly. The piano was silent, as usual. Bored with reading, Vinyl found herself staring at the calendar. A month had passed since their visit to Canterlot. Aside from the clock and the occasional jingle of wind chimes through the window, the only sound was the ever-present scratch of Claret’s pen. Some days, Vinyl swore her mother wrote more than she spoke.

Claret’s pills were carefully arranged on the kitchen counter, little oblong capsules of varying colors and sizes, each in their own little bottle with marked names and dosages. And Claret sat between her and them, writing away at another untitled piece. She hadn’t even played the last two she’d written.While Claret hadn’t actively discouraged her from asking questions, she had definitely been evasive about answering them.

Vinyl looked at the clock again. Only five minutes had passed. She grit her teeth to keep herself from groaning. Claret could spend hours and hours writing music, but she usually took breaks more often than this.

Finally, Claret got up out of her seat and walked up the steps toward the restroom. The minute she disappeared from sight, Vinyl bolted to the kitchen and scrambled with her levitation magic. She snatched up a notepad, pen, and one of the medication bottles, hastily writing the name down and putting it back in its place before grabbing another. The list grew, but there were still a few names to write down. She grabbed the remaining three bottles in her magic and pulled them all close at once. She heard a flush from upstairs and flinched. One of the bottles, still caught in her magic, overshot its mark and clattered on the floor loudly. Vinyl could hear her heartbeat in her ears, but Claret didn’t seem to have heard it.

Just as she finished her list, the door creaked open and she could hear her mother coming down the stairs. In one swift motion, she tore the page off the notepad, crumpled it into her pocket, set the last bottle back in its spot, and affixed what she hoped was a convincing smile on her face. “Vinyl?” Claret called, looking around the living room and finding it empty. She rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen where she found Vinyl looking inside the fridge. “Oh, there you are,” Claret said with a halfhearted laugh. “Are you looking for something, dear?”

“Oh, um. I think we ran out of…” Vinyl quickly thought of what came to mind. “Oranges! I think we ran out of oranges.”

“Vinyl, we normally don’t buy oranges.”

“Yeah well, I am getting a bit sick of apples.” Vinyl closed the fridge and walked out of the kitchen. “I’ll be out for a bit.”

Claret sighed, then tilted her head and asked, “Are you okay?”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine.” Vinyl began to sweat a bit, worried her mother was already catching on to her. “I’m going to call Derpy and invite her to come with me. To the store. We’ll probably get sidetracked, though. Might be a while. I’ll be sure to bring some oranges back along the way.”

“Well, okay then.” Claret sat back down at the kitchen table and went back to her writing.

Vinyl quickly walked up the stairs to her bedroom. Her phone was deep inside the room, at the end of her messy desk, which was littered with cassette tapes and notes. Vinyl carefully maneuvered across the clean spots on the floor between piles of dirty laundry and more cassette tapes, retrieving her phone from the mess and dialing in Derpy’s number. It didn’t take long for her to pick up.

“Hello, Derpy Hooves speaking.”

“It’s Vinyl. Are you free?”

“Um, sure. Is everything all right, Vinyl?”

“I’ll tell you everything when we meet. Do you know where the local diner Goldy’s is?”

“Yeah, I pass by it often when I am out.”

“All right, I’m about the leave the house and I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

Vinyl hung up the phone and left her room. Walking down the stairs she went to the front door about to leave.

“See ya, Mom.” Vinyl waved.

“Have fun, Vinyl. Be safe.” Claret smiled.

“Thanks, I will.”

Closing the door behind her, Vinyl left the house and began walking through the neighborhood, occasionally nodding to passing neighbors.
Entering the business district, she kept to herself and passed a few buildings until she stopped at a diner with a large sign titled ‘Goldy’s.’

Stepping inside, Vinyl looked around the diner and saw her friend Derpy sitting in a booth, smiling and waving her over. She went over to the booth and sat across from her.

“Hey, Derpy.”

“Hi, Vinyl. How are things?”

“Not any better since you were at our place last time.”

“She is still just staying in the house?”

“Yeah, I understand she has to adjust to new medication, but it’s been a month now.”

“Has she been doing anything?”

“Either she reads a book or she’s been writing music, not much else. She hasn’t been talking much either.”

A bouncy waitress came from around the corner and greeted both of the mares.

“Hey there gals; what can I get ya?” she said, holding a notepad and paper with her levitation magic.

“Just two coffees for us, nothing else.” Vinyl said.

The waitress nodded and walked off.

“Has she told you anything since coming back from Canterlot?” Derpy said.

“She just said she was fine and that was it. Any other time I try to ask her about it, she just says the same thing.”

“Do you think she is hiding something?”

“Yeah, I think she is.”

Derpy rubbed her chin, “So, have any ideas to get her to open up more?”

“I do.” Vinyl pulled out the piece of paper from her jacket pocket and passed it to Derpy. “When she was upstairs, I looked over each of her medications and wrote down the names.”

The waitress returned with a pot of coffee and two mugs, filling them with the hot beverage. “Let me know if you girls need anything else,” she said coyly over her shoulder before trotting off to tend to another table.

“Thank you.” Derpy nodded and picked up her mug, taking a sip of her coffee as she pored over the hastily scrawled list… “These are quite a mouthful. What are we going to do with them?”

“My mom is not telling me what she’s taking these things for, so I want to find out for myself. I’m hoping it’s just my imagination, but with the way she’s been acting… I’m just worried it might be something bad.” Vinyl picked up her mug and took a sip of coffee. “I thought we could go to the local library in town. I’m sure they have some information we can access and see what the medications are supposed to treat.”

Derpy stared blankly at Vinyl. “You came up with that idea yourself?”

“Um, yeah?” Vinyl groaned. “I may not make the best decisions at times, but I’m not dumb Derpy.”

“Sorry.” She smiled. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“Thanks.”

“Since we will be taking the time to do some research, why don’t we have some pancakes before the library? My treat.”

“Sounds great.” Vinyl smiled.


After leaving the diner, Vinyl and Derpy left that part of town and walked into an area where the homes looked generations old, held together by planks of wood and roofs covered in hay.

“What part of town is this?” Derpy asked as they walked past a few homes.

“Old Ponyville; these homes have been here ever since the very start of the town. Since then, Ponyville has kept on expanding into what it is today.”

“How do you know so much about the town's history?”

“Mom told me when I was a filly. We used to take walks together all the time when I was little, at least once a week, and she’d tell stories about everything we were going past.”

Derpy nodded. The two walked out of the neighborhood and into a more open area of town.

“That’s it over there,” Vinyl said, pointing her hoof towards a large tree.

“Uh… behind the tree?”

“No.” Vinyl shook her head. “Inside the tree, it’s been a part of Ponyville for the longest time and open to the public. Though, Mom and I never knew who carved it out and put a library inside.”

Walking up to the large tree with Derpy behind her, Vinyl knocked on the door and took a step back. Hoofsteps could be heard inside coming closer. Then, a light purple unicorn with a long, straight, dark blue mane and tail with magenta and purple highlights opened the door.

“Oh, hello Vinyl!” she said, eyeing Vinyl’s mane. “I like what you did with your mane.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” Vinyl ran her hoof through her mane.

Twilight looked past Vinyl at Derpy. “Who is your new friend?”

“My name is Derpy,” she said, stepping forward and extending her hoof.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you, Derpy.” She shook Derpy’s hoof, returning a smile of her own. “I didn’t expect you to be here during the summer, Vinyl. I thought you only came here when you needed to get some research done for school.”

“Oh, we still need to do some research; it’s just not for school,” Vinyl said.

“It’s not something I’m going to get in trouble for, right?” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow.

“No, no. We just need to do some basic medical research. My mom was putting her medicines in her weekly pill box and”—Vinyl forced a laugh—“she forgot which pills are for what so I’m here to look them up for her.”

“Well, come on in.” Twilight opened the door to the library and motioned for them to come inside.

Walking in first, Derpy’s eyes widened at how the book-filled shelves were carved into the tree itself. Bookcases took up a majority of the space in the center of the library, while a few chairs and tables were scattered around the library.

The library also had a second floor, but a sign was placed on the stairwell labeled ‘employees only.’

“This place is amazing,” Derpy said, peering at every part of the library.

“Thank you, though my assistant helps keep it in top shape.” Twilight walked over to a bookshelf where rows of large books lay. “I’m not sure if these will cover everything you’re looking for, but we have a few older medical journals here; they aren’t the most up to date, but the local hospital was kind enough to donate them to us rather than throwing them away. Do you girls need any more assistance?”

“We got it from here; thanks, Twilight,” Vinyl said.

“Call me if you need anything, then.” Twilight walked up to the second floor of the library, leaving Vinyl and Derpy alone.

“So, know where to start?” Vinyl asked Derpy.

“Can I have that list?” Derpy asked while Vinyl passed it to her. She held the list close to her eyes reading it once again. “Give me a minute.” She squinted her eyes, reading the titles on the spine of the books and grabbed several books.

Vinyl eyed the thick books and sighed. “We really have to read through these?”

“It was your idea.”


Vinyl and Derpy spent more than an hour in the library, looking through indexes of the pages. They had found basic info on medications like Thaumotussin which was to suppress Claret’s magic, but others were giving them trouble.

Vinyl gave up soon after starting, but Derpy kept working her way through page after page.

“Any luck?”

“I might if you stop asking and let me concentrate.”

“Sorry.” Vinyl raised her hooves in mock defense. She got up and arched her back, stretching her legs with a yawn.

Derpy kept skimming the pages in silence, occasionally looking down to check a name against the list. She scribbled notes on fever reducers, on painkillers, sleep aids. Midway down a page, Derpy froze. She checked the name on the list, read the description, and checked the name again with a sharp gasp.

“Something up?” Vinyl asked, hearing Derpy.

“Vinyl, this medication your mother is taking. Memnanadol, it-it’s…”

“It’s for what? Spit it out.”

“Its primary use is… treating neurological cancers.”

Vinyl didn’t understand the first word, but the other one, cancer. That hit her. Her expression went blank. She knew what that meant, but for some reason she couldn’t feel anything. She needed to not be here, though. Nothing was making any sense. She needed some time alone. She needed to think.

Vinyl needed her mom.

“Vinyl…?” Derpy called out while Vinyl remained silent. “Maybe I am wrong, let me do a double—”

“I g-gotta go,” Vinyl stammered, running out of the library.

“Hey, wait!” Derpy tried to call out to Vinyl, but she was already gone.

Sprinting back home, everything she passed was a blur. She raced up the front steps, threw open the door, and looked around the first floor, not finding her mother.

“Mom!?” Vinyl called.

She walked upstairs and heard a faint noise from the bathroom. As she drew near, she heard a series of coughs from inside the bathroom.

Vinyl knocked on the bathroom door.

“Mom, are you all right in there?”

“I’m fine, dear,” Claret said hastily.

Vinyl knew her mother was hiding something; she wasn’t telling the truth. She heard her mother throw up on the other side of the door.

Vinyl broke the silence between the two.

“Mom, I know you are hiding something. I can understand if what you have to share is bad news, but I’d rather be told the truth than have it hidden away from me while you suffer.”

There were a few seconds of silence.

“All right, Vinyl. I’ll tell you what’s going on.” She had another series of coughs.

“You promise?” Vinyl asked sternly.

“Yes.”

“All right.”

“Can you make me a glass of water? I’ll be down in the living room after I clean up.”

“Yeah, I’ll be down there.” Vinyl went down the stairs and into the kitchen, she pulled a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water. She could only think to herself.

She’s fine Vinyl. She’s just a little bit sick. Nothing a little medicine can’t fix.

Vinyl placed the glass on the coffee table, sat down on the sofa, and waited for her mother to join her. After a few minutes the shuffling of hooves could be heard upstairs. Claret slowly walked down the stairs and sat down next to Vinyl. Her mane was a mess.

She sat on the same sofa next to Vinyl and took down the glass of water.

“So, what’s going on?”

Claret sighed and took a deep breath. “Vinyl, I don’t know how to explain this.”

“Just tell me.”

Claret looked at Vinyl’s face. Then, she frowned and took her eyes away from her, looking at the floor instead, and tears flowed down her face.

“I-I have cancer.”

The mention of that word hit her hard in the chest. It echoed in her ears and time seemed to stand still.

“No, no that can’t be true. It’s just some more pills to take; you’re doing fine,” she said, unsure of who she was talking to. Her breaths came heavy. “Please tell me this is a joke, a dream, anything, please.”

“Vinyl…” Claret lifted her head, tears streaming down her face, not able to hold her emotions.

Vinyl began to tear up as well and couldn’t do anything else but hug her mother. Her mother cried into Vinyl’s shoulder while she consoled her. “Mom, you’re going to be okay? Right? It’s not serious is it? R-right?”

“I don’t know.” She sniffled in between sentences. “I have a rare brain degenerative disease made worse by my usage of magic over the years; the doctors call it Magic Degeneration.”

“Years? How did any doctor not pick this up?”

“It’s easily mistaken for regular migraines in its early stages.”

“So, since I was a filly?”

“It’s been forming ever since I had those damn headaches, and now it’s grown too big. Surgery is too risky due to the growth taking up a large section of my brain, and the best the doctors can do is suppress my magic entirely to see if it’ll stop the growth and possibly reduce the size of it.” Claret paused, wiping away some tears. “They are not sure if that will be enough.”

Vinyl held onto her mother tight as her mother did the same. They both sat there in silence, crying. After a few minutes Vinyl broke the silence between the two.

“You’re still here, Mom, that’s all that matters.”

“I know dear, but…” She wiped her tears away trying to compose herself. “My career. I need my magic to play piano.” She only cried more. “If I can’t get any better, it’s over.”

Vinyl didn’t know what to say. Cancer was already heartbreaking enough, losing her ability to play piano and losing her entire career however was the nail in the coffin.

“Let’s not worry about that right now, Mom. Right now, let’s focus on kicking this cancer out.”

“Yeah… You’re right Vinyl.”

“Thank you for telling me by the way; the truth.”

“I’m sorry for keeping it secret,” she sighed. “I just didn’t know how to say it.”

“It’s fine.”

Claret smiled reassuringly for her daughter, but she still felt weak and she lay down on the sofa. “I’m still not feeling too well, Vinyl. I am just going to rest here for a little while.”

“All right, I’ll be right here.”

Vinyl got up off the sofa and sat on the chair at the other end, catching some rest herself.


Vinyl opened her eyes to see darkness. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyesight and slowly began to see thin streams of light pouring in through the living room windows. A light snore came from her left. Vinyl saw her mother curled up in the fetal position, still fully asleep. Claret shivered.

Vinyl got up from the chair and went over to the hall closet, grabbing a blanket. Coming back into the living room, she placed the blanket over her mother.

“Goodnight,” she said softly. She turned to head upstairs, but paused at the edge of the room and looked back at Claret. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll take care of you.”

Walking up the stairs and into her room, Vinyl closed the door behind her and sat at her desk. She grabbed the phone and dialed Derpy’s number, waiting for a response.

“Hello?” Derpy said on the other end of the phone.

“Hey, It’s me.”

“Vinyl, is everything all right?”

“No,” Vinyl sighed. “Not really.”

“So… Claret—”

“It’s cancer.”

“Vinyl.” Derpy paused, she tried to find the words but couldn’t think of anything and only said the first thing that came to mind. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. You didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“I’m still sorry, though,” Derpy said with a frown. “Both you and your mom… you’ve been so nice to me. This year has been the first that it’s actually felt like I have a family.”

There was a small bit of silence before Derpy jumped back into the conversation.

“So, what happens now?”

“At the moment, my mother does what she has been doing for the past month. I—” Vinyl began sniffling a bit, trying to hold back her tears, but she couldn’t. “I don’t know what to do, Derpy.”

“Be there for her.”

“I know that, but what else?”

“Didn’t you say she was writing music?”

“Yeah?”

“Why not play her compositions? She can’t play them, but I think if she heard you play, that may cheer her up.”

“…That’s actually a good idea.”

“And if you two need anything, I can help.”

“Thanks, Derpy.” Vinyl sniffled a bit, trying to get herself back together. “That means a lot.”

“Is it all right if I come over tomorrow? You can tell your mother that you told me first, so we can avoid this again, and maybe treat it like any other day.”

“That would be great. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Stay strong, Vinyl.”

“I will.”

With that, Vinyl placed the phone back down on the receiver. She looked out her window, thinking about what they were going to do. Not just now, but for the next few years. She only hoped things would get better sooner than later.

She got up from her desk and turned off the light to her room, then lay in her bed, only wanting rest.

Author's Note:

Special thanks to editors Madeline L-Equine and Gardrek for helping with this chapter.