The rest of the morning, and the afternoon for that matter, was consumed by the party and talking and explaining and everything. It was all a blur, which may have been caused by the headache and the new flow of memory, but she knew she enjoyed herself. It wasn’t some formal ball or anything, but it was a rich sweet sixteen so it might as well have been. Vinyl spent a lot of time with Twilight and Celestia, this party wasn’t for her after all. The two had to explain a lot of things to the Princess.

“Um… Veronica?” VInyl heard at the end of her explanation to Celestia. She turned to find Emerald standing there.

“What is it, Emerald?” Vinyl asked, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Can I come with you guys when you go back?” She asked. Twilight and Celestia started listening in at that.

“What do you mean?” Vinyl asked, already sure of what the answer was, though she wasn’t sure how to answer.

“You’re a Seeker now, but you’re not. You’re with the Chasers, I know that miss Twilight is definitely one… I’m Sixteen now, old enough to enroll in the police force like you did when you left… but I want to do more than just that, I’ve seen what the Seekers can do… I don’t want them to do things like that anymore.” The girl explained. Vinyl still didn’t know how to answer. For starters, apparently she was a police officer at one point.

“Things like what?” Celestia asked.

“The leading suspect for your murder was a Seeker…” Emerald replied. They were all silent for a while.

“You told me, when Vinyl was unconscious, that she taught you how to defend yourself and use a gun. If that’s so, then sometime in the future we’ll have to see just what you can do. It’s not up to me, though I’ll put your name in with Luna for observation and evaluation.” Twilight said, patting the girl’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” Emerald said with a smile.

“Are you sure, Emerald? A Chaser’s job isn’t pretty…” Vinyl warned.

“Especially if your partner is someone like her.” Twilight said, nudging Vinyl’s shoulder. Vinyl smiled for a second at the gesture before turning back to Emerald.

“We hunt down Seekers and destroy them. You saw a little bit of all the different gear I have built into me, they’re not much different. They are incredibly intelligent and there aren’t many Chasers that can even fight an actual Seeker in a fair fight. It’s very dirty work, too… I had to soak for half an hour to get the smell of blood off of me and if it weren’t for this fancy shampoo my hair would still smell of death.” Vinyl explained in a serious tone. She noticed her father walk up to where they were talking, him hearing most of the conversation.

“You’ve changed, Veronica…” He said in a slightly sad tone. VInyl deadpanned. “I mean obviously yes, but I mean you; the person you are. You used to be such a sweet and caring girl, even when you joined the police force and started working at that club… nobody would have thought you even had the capacity to become so cold and merciless as you make yourself sound…” He explained. Vinyl smiled lightly and stood up.

“A person is molded by their experiences… Until today I had no memory of anything before my life turned to hell as a Seeker… Then I found out that I died, and the pain I felt then came back. And even now, it feels like I’m being constantly ripped apart and cut and burned… But who I am hasn’t changed, and I have some of my memory back… Yes, I am changed… but I’m only cold and merciless to those who deserve it.” VInyl explained. Twilight stepped up to her than, planting a hand on her shoulder.

“Trust me, she may be a Seeker turned Chaser, and she may be a total badass on the field, but she still knows how to care.” The girl said. Vinyl laughed lightly and shook her head. Her father smiled then and looked down at Emerald.

“Well, what do you think Emerald?” He asked. The girl didn’t answer for a little while.

“I think anybody Veronica is cruel to deserves what’s coming to them…” She started. She looked up at them now, determination in her eyes. “And I think that if I saw them I’d do the same thing.” She continued. Twilight chuckled and Vinyl crouched down to her level, taking her shoulders.

“Then I’ll see what I can do too… According to Luna I’m already one of their top agents.” She said. Emerald smiled and hugged her, which she returned in full. She stood up, still holding her for a while before putting her back down.

“It’s getting a little late now, and we’ll have to fill out some reports about this and I’d rather get a nice soak in before sleep.” Twilight said, noting the time at 8pm.

“Wouldn’t this be considered a private matter?” Celestia asked, most of the group forgetting she was still standing with them.

“Yes and no… Vinyl regaining her memory, and the episode of pain she experienced, as well as what caused it need to go into my reports of her observation. Everything else is private though.” Twilight replied.

“Understandable. I’ll go with you then, so that I can give you my firsthand.” Vinyl said. Twilight nodded, extending her farewell to Vinyl’s parents and made for the door. Vinyl made to follow, but with an afterthought turned back to Emerald and placed something she detached from one of her head’s data compartments.

“This is one of my wireless transmitters. Plug it into any device and I’ll have access to it and vice versa. If you were to use it on a communication device we could speak.” Vinyl explained. Emerald’s eyes widened slightly, with a smile, and surprised Vinyl. She slipped the small chip into her forearm, which had a patch of biometal there, and her eyes glowed slightly. She had some advanced augments as well, Vinyl guessed this one consisted of a HUD and the controls for it being mental or on this forearm panel. She felt the connection between them form and smiled.

“Good thinking.” She said. She kissed the girl on the head and made her way towards Twilight was waiting at the doorway. She looked a little annoyed, and Vinyl found out why. There were armed police officers standing next to their Spectres.

“Oh what is it now?” Twilight sighed as they walked up to them.

“I recommend you stay away from these and get to your vehicle quickly. These things are very dangerous, they’re known to be stolen from military bases by Seekers and they don’t care if you’re a human or a drone.” One of the officers said. They both deadpanned.

“I’m not a drone…” Vinyl said.

“These are ours, don’t worry.” Twilight said. They made to leave then, but they were barred as the officers drew weapons.

“You don’t want to be doing that…” Vinyl said darkly, some of her compartments opening and extending. Before she could start a confrontation, though, Twilight put a hand on her shoulder. With the other hand she retrieved both her personal identification and her Chaser identification.

“We’re above your heads, stand down.” The girl said. There was a moment of nothing until the one in charge repeated the order and Vinyl relaxed.

“Sorry if I’m a little quick to violence, but I’m in a lot of pain at the moment…” Vinyl said, activating her Spectre.

“These were stolen by Seekers but we confiscated them on a recent raid. And also, try not to assume that anyone with that much augmentation is a Seeker if they aren’t a drone. She was a snatch victim and is working with us now.” Twilight explained, mounting her own vehicle.

“And I’ll be telling my brother of this, so make sure any reports on this are accurate.” She continued before taking off. The officers’ respect for her order to stand down was because of her Chaser status, as well as the fact that it was generally known that she was Shining Armor’s brother; retired captain of the Canterlot police force and current commander of the Royal Guard.

“Are you alright? Has your pain intensified further?” Twilight asked when they were back at the manor, dining. Vinyl had seemed rather sluggish and irritable since they left the Scratch Manor. Vinyl sighed and put down the fork onto the plate of half-eaten food.

“I don’t know…” She started, putting her head in her hands. “I just… I don’t know why I’m feeling like this, I should be happy because I can remember a lot of my life again… but… Something just… I don’t know.” She tried to explain.

“Maybe you’re not used to all these emotions at once? Psychological exhaustion can lead to things like this, personality changes and things like that. It might take a little time, or something to vent it all out on. I have my training routine in the mornings to vent and the spring or a nice hot shower for when I just need to relax. I maintain my equipment when I need something to focus on and Celestia or sometimes even Luna will sit with me and just let me talk when I need it. You’d be surprised how much just talking things out helps.” Twilight explained.

“I don’t really think I have anyone that I can just talk to like that…” Vinyl said. Twilight chuckled lightly and pulled the other into an embrace, surprising her.

“I may be your superior now, but you’re still my friend. We’ve talked like that before, and I’d be happy to be your vent if you need it.” Twilight said. She put Vinyl at arm’s length and smiled at her. Vinyl was surprised by the contact and even more so by what she said. She just kind of stared at the girl.She felt her mood softening as she smiled and hugged the girl again.

“Thank you…” She said softly. Twilight returned it in full.

“You know where my room is, so if you even feel the need to talk to someone I’m there. I think I need to go soak in the spring again though, you coming with?” Twilight asked when they separated. Vinyl smiled and nodded, she had discovered that soaking with Twilight was always very relaxing.

They didn’t talk much, they relaxed. They sat there in the steaming water, the slightly cooler humid air just perfect for what wasn’t in the water. Vinyl found that her muddled thoughts cleared up now that she was resting. She closed her eyes and gave out a content sigh. Twilight was surprised when Vinyl put her head on her shoulder, but when she looked to asked what she was doing she found the girl fast asleep.

She chuckled lightly and chose to leave it be. Vinyl had gone through a massive amount of physical and mental strain today, afterall. And besides, she didn’t plan on getting up for a while longer.

Author's Note

so I just thought of plot twist after plot twist for much later in this story...
and I really, really hope I can get this up to that point
because when I thought these up I went 'oh shit, that's epic' so I can only imagine how you guys would react.
anyways, hope you enjoy.