The Life of Vinyl Scratch

Chapters

chapter two : old friends
chapter three : what's up doc?
Chapter 4
chapter one : foundling

chapter two : old friends

Cheerilee sat on her sofa in deep thought as she gazed at the beautiful little filly set beside her; she was sleeping on a deep fluffy red cushion. Her neon electric blue mane gleamed in the light that cast down from the ceiling. It was streaked with some hairs of a darker blue (which was notably equally as neon) and appeared to be perfectly straightened. However, also spikey which must have made it the cutest punk style mane Cheerilee had ever seen.

Her tail which was of the very same colouration and indeed style flicked back and forth as the filly slept, this caused a grin to tug up Cheerilee’s cheeks as she looked long and ernestly down at her.

How in equestria am I meant to find a suitable name for a filly who I know nothing about. A filly that isn’t even my own, I don’t even know who her real parents are!
No. No Cheerilee, you are her mother now, you are all that matters to this filly.

I know what i could do, inspiration came out of the blue; I should look for clues about her in what her parents must have left her. Yes, that’s a good idea, now let’s see what do we have? well the box, that much is obvious, and we have…… well what else DO we have?

Cheerilee lifted herself up and looked into the tarnished box which she had previously transferred the foal out of; there were lots of blankets and around the edges of the box a few odd looking rocks with strange shapes on them, next to them a pair of black goggles with purple lenses that must have been way too big for the foal to actually wear.

So we have a box, some weird looking rocks, and a pair of goggles which are way too big for a foal (besides looking like something Elton PON would wear).well what can we do with that?……… not much.

Maybe if we take a more detailed look at things….

Upon closer inspection of the collected pieces of evidence she realised that the box was actually once used to store LP records in. It had a picture of a huge dragon and in some lightning bolt style writing it said “Greyfelle and the sisters of harmony” only these where so faded and scratched away that she had only realised the design now, on her closer inspection. She also found sewn onto the inside of the strap on the goggles were the two letters V and S, how very strange she thought to herself.

Cheerilee knew she was getting closer to learning more about the filly but she had to sit down and get everything straight in her head.

My my, it’s just like being fetlock holmes, all this investigating.

Slumped down in her sofa next to the filly she resumed gazing at her. This time concentrating more on her pristine white coat and how the bright white contrasted, but in a strange way complimented the neon blues of her mane and tail. VS. VS what could it stand for.

V,v, v, vibrant? Well her mane certainly is vibrant.

Valour?

Velocity?

Veracity?

NO NO NO none of those will do, they are good names yes but not…. Not quite suited for success.

Let’s see now, what things did we have; purple goggles, some weird ass rocks, I mean who in the hay gives a baby rocks??? and an old box which used to have LP vinyl records WAIT that’s it: Vinyl. Yes I shall call him vinyl. That must be the clue his parents left. It must.it must. It must.

“how does that sound to you little one, shall we call you vinyl” Cheerilee pronounced in a hushed whisper so as to not wake the poor little one. At this the filly wriggled over onto her other side and gave her new mother a gurgle. Instantly Cheerilee’s heart melt and tears pricked in the corners of her eyes.

So much had happened today and she regretted not a single moment.

For the first time that day she relaxed and slumped back into the comfort of the sofa. She let her fatigue take over and fell asleep, with a notable grin spread across her face.

As she relaxed and drifted off to sleep what she did not notice was a feint glow of deep indigo around her fillie's horn. Too diffused at first - when Vinyl's name was chosen - to visibly notice but soon becoming more concentrated till it formed a distinct mist.

Cheerilee awoke early the next morning, the sun permeating her living room through the violet curtains of the east-facing window. Although the sunlight was not what had woken her, it was in fact Vinyl lying on her side next to her; butting her head on Cheerilee's hind leg as if to say “wake up momma! it’s time to plaaay!”

Momentarily shocked by the scene, but soon remembering the events of the previous day Cheerilee tentatively scooped Vinyl up into a cradling position. Being this close to her filly instilled a welcome calm into the young mare.

It soon occurred to her that the filly must have not eaten in ages so she walked with her over to the kitchen whereupon she found the perfect snack; a small carrot. Walking around back to the sofa Cheerilee began to feed the carrot to Vinyl.

“you should like this, it’s packed with sugar just like sweets”

she noticed something queer about the foal but could not quite put her hoof on what it was.

Cheerilee's train of thought was interrupted by a firm knocking at the door, before she had even the chance to sit back down she was heading towards the door wondering who it could be; she had not been expecting anypony.

Unlocking the front door and allowing both top and bottom halves to swing inwards Cheerilee was happy to see a bright red stallion with a rugged orange mane framed in her doorway.

“Good mornin’ miss Cheerilee. We heard all ‘bout your new little lass from our Applejack an’ well I jus’ came t’ say if y’al ever be needin’ a hoof…. Well y’al know where ah am”.

It was big mackintosh, unexpected yet welcome never the less, Cheerilee stammered then blushed a little (luckily no-one could usually tell with Cheerilee on account of the colour of her coat, which was of immense relief to her).

“ahhh why thank you Big Mac your kindness is very appreciated and most welcome, please would you like to come in”. Cheerilee awkwardly gestured into her new house while holding her filly (no jokes readers that shit is NOT easy, you try gesturing with your forelegs while holding a filly)

“well ah aint got any jobs down at the farm today, why not. We aint spoken in a while an’ ill bet a catch up would be a mighty fine way to spend a day” Mackintosh gave a wide smile and his eyes seemed to become a little brighter (although Cheerilee could not visibly see his blushing on account of his bright red coat).

“So Big Mac how are things down at sweet apple acres these days” Cheerilee said as she courtly perched herself on one side of her sofa with Vinyl nestled in her lap, leaving the other half obviously inviting the other pony to sit in.

Big Mac took this opportunity with well concealed zeal and gingerly took his seat, his eyes drawn towards the foal in Cheerilee’s lap. “the last o’ the saplings for this year where planted up yesterday an’ ah gave the older trees enough water for this week, which is why ah’m off workin’ for the next few days”

“But what ‘bout you miss Cheerilee, ah hear you finally got that teachers job y’al always wanted. An’ then there’s this little one”

Mackintosh couldn’t help but smile at how proud he was of Cheerilee, they had gone to school together back when they were both young and Big Mackintosh had always kind of had a crush on her but she was waaaaay too clever, and hence waaaaay too out of his league, so he was content having miss Cheerilee as a good friend.

“O yes yes, it took four years of studying in Canterlot but I finally did it and now I’m finally here, back home with my old friends and doing the job I always knew I was destined to do. Hey Big Mac this must be how you feel all the time, isn’t it just great.”

“oh my, celestia, I had completely forgotten. I promised the professor I would be going to school at normal time yesterday. Oh darn, Big Mac I hope you don’t mind but I have to be going, oh and I need to find someone to look after Vinyl for me too. I can’t just leave him in the staff room all day” A sudden wave of panic came upon the usually calm pony as she began to rush franticly around the house.

“umm….. ah’ll take care o’ the little critter for y’al miss Cheerilee, you go get yerself off to work now, we’ll be just fine” Big Mac offered in a re-assuring tone, throwing in a smile to show her everything was alright.

Cheerilee hesitated for just a second “well if you’re really sure you don’t mind Big Mac…. Oh thank you old friend”

“ahh y’al aint gotta worry ‘bout us, ah’v had plenty practice with fillys what with havin’ applejack 'round the house”

“I completely trust you know what you are doing Big Mac, I’m so glad you came I don’t know if I would trust anypony else with vinyl. Not yet at least.”

And at that Cheerilee threw on her saddlebags and cantered off down the row of houses towards the school. How is he always such a nice pony to everypony, all the time, and how is it that he always manages to be there for you and willing to help out exactly when you need it most?

This thought nagged away at Cheerilee all through the day, she even found herself daydreaming in her own class which was possibly the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to the poor mare.

Twenty pairs of expecting beady little eyes looking up intently at her, then one studious filly on the front row put her hoof up and pronounced in a shy tone “ um miss Cheerilee are you going to teach us more about how to find out the area of a circle, or or has that topic finished, oh please say there’s more”

For the second time that day Cheerilee blushed and again for the second time she was glad nopony could tell. She managed to recover with some dignity by making some excuse about having paused on purpose to make sure everypony had all their notes down and nopony had any more questions before the class moved on.

When all of the ponies in the class had put down their pencils Cheerilee assumed it was clear to carry on “so to summarise class, pi R squared is how we find the area of a circle. Now we are going to see how to find a thing called the circumference which is the length of the line all the way around the edge of the circle”

“Applejack you should be good at this, ok so if for example you want to make the biggest circular field as possible but you only have a certain length of fencing in your stores.”

Cheerilee turned round to the board and drew a large circle, creating a grating screech as she did so.

“ How would you figure out where to put the fences to make sure you didn’t run out”

“aww shucks miss Cheerilee ah don’t believe ah know the answer to that there question, Big Mackintosh always does the fencin’ jobs round the farm” replied the young Applejack.

“indeed he does and the reason he does such a good job of it is that he always thinks things through on a mathematical scale before building them. Now class pay close attention to this next bit, this is how we work it out: first we have to find a number to call D as the diameter of the circle, then we times this number by pi”

the same studious young mare in the front row, Trixie was it came out with a good question; one that Cheerilee hoped somepony would notice “but miss how do we know what value of D will give us the circumference that we need to use the right length of fencing”

“ahhh yes a good question Trixie, the problem we have is that the equation does not work the other way around so we have to use trial and error until we get the answer we want”

Cheerilee directed to the class as a whole “now class I want you to each find out the value of D for a circle made out of 50M of fencing, the first to find the correct answer is the winner and gets to take home one of my special flowers”

Immediately there was a flourish of movement as everypony swiped up their pencil into their mouth and began to work out some answers. The promise of a prize made it every pony for himself, for some students this was good and for some not so good.

For Trixie and Applejack it became a one on one showdown to see who could work it out first. Trixie was franticly trying different values for D and getting progressively closer with each try. Applejack was sure there must be an easier way to do this, maybe, just maybe, if D timesed by pi gives circumference then circumference divided by pi gives the value of D. yes that might just work. So 50 divided by pi makes ………. 15.915.

“Miss miss ah’v got it, ah’v got it. The answer is 15.915” Applejack blurted out with great pride, flailing her forelegs about so much it looked as though they would either cause her to take flight or they might just fall off altogether.

“Why yes it is Applejack, my my, I shall have to warn your brother that he has some competition”

Cheerilee commended Applejack then emitted a soft chuckle as she thought about actually doing just that.

“And Applejack I believe that means you deserve one of my special flowers” opening one of her desk draws she pulled out a flower much like a large version of a daisy in her mouth and placed it on Applejacks desk

“this flower has been enchanted so that it will never die of thirst but be careful with it Applejack as it is still fragile and can be easily damaged” Cheerilee said kindly but firmly.

Applejack simply beamed back at her teacher “don’t y’al fret miss Cheerilee ah’ll keep it safe for ever”

The whole class clapped their front hooves and stomped with their hind-hoofs in time, the whole class but Trixie of course.

“Alright, class is dismissed for the day. Well done everypony for today’s work, I am proud of you all” Cheerilee said to the class as they started to pack their things into their bags and position their saddlebags onto their backs.

The class left the room through the door to the right of Cheerilee’s desk. As soon as the last pupil was out Cheerilee started for home where she knew Vinyl and Big Mac would be waiting for her. she hurried more than she would have usually as she had wanted to be back with her new daughter all day, or was it Big Mac she wanted to be back with?

No, no that is a wholly inappropriate suggestion Cheerilee, we should be concentrating on more important things.

It was as this thought was passing through her mind that she realised her house was already in sight, she must have rushed even more than she had imagined, what with her state of deep contemplation. That state quickly nipped itself in the bud as she approached her front door and entered her house, being very cautious about making sudden noises (like last time when she snapped a stick and woke Vinyl up).

Cheerilee was welcomed by a wonderful sweet smell wafting from her kitchen and…… was that Big Mac humming…… Cheerilee had never heard him hum before but this tune sounded beautiful, so eloquent and delicate; not too dissimilar to one of her own special flowers.

As the door closed behind her with a woody ‘thunk’ the humming abruptly stopped and the bright red face of Big Mac emerged around the corner of the partition wall which separated the kitchen from the living room.
“ah whipped us up some grub Cheerilee, ah knew you’d be home right ‘bout now, ah sure hope y’al don’t mind us usin’ ya kitchen an’ all” Big Mac announced with a wide grin on his face “this here’s a special dish ah don’t make for jus’ anypony”

Cheerilee, rather flattered that Big Mac had (rather covertly) pointed out she wasn’t just anypony; meaning she was special, could only reply in one way “oh Big Mac you shouldn’t have, and no of course I don’t mind you using the kitchen silly, you know you can make yourself at home here”

“we’ve been havin’ a mighty fine day me an’ this filly here, the little critter’s quite the mischief maker miss Cheerilee, ah should warn you” Big Mac called through to Cheerilee from the kitchen “hec I’ll be havin’ to tell mah sis she’s got some competition”

“she don’t open her eyes much though”

“Talking about competition old friend you may have some of your own” jibed Cheerilee

“Today your little sister proved to be the best at applying circle theorem’s to how large one could make a field with only a given length of fencing” Cheerilee joked with Macintosh, making out that his little sister was catching up with him.

Big Mac came walking through to the dining table where he set down three plates of food “my special recipe of hay doused in apple-family sweetest cider, blended with finely chopped golden delicious apples topped with a crown of sweet sweet molasses. Ah’d like to see Applejack manage that”

“okay, so maybe she’s not quite as good as you yet, but ill warn you she’s catching up” Cheerilee teased “now what was that you where saying about Vinyl not opening her eyes much”

As if on cue the filly manifested herself onto the table from seemingly nowhere with a bright flash of cyan light and began munching down on her mini portion of Big Mac’s special meal as if nothing odd had just happened, as if she thought everypony got around like this.

“y’ see what ah mean ‘bout bein’ a mischief, why she’s been doin’ that all day”

writers note : sorry it has taken so long to get the second chapter finished, lots of re-editing has been done to make sure i don't make the same amature mistakes as i did in chapter 1. also exams and shiz are hapening at college and most of my time atm is spent doing revision (btw for those who are interested i do biology, chemistry, maths, and geology. random info i know but meh i like waffling).

hope you guys enjoyed it and once exams are over i will be working on chapter 3, i have a bullet point plan of the whole story and where i'm hoping to go with it, little things are always on my mind and indefinately being added to drafts.

brony on

chapter three : what's up doc?

chapter three : what's up dock?

The reception at the Ponyville hospital had that dreaded smell of anesthetic that every pony fears. Vinyl perched on an excessively padded chair that was aged beyond recognition; bouncing up and down with great gusto on the squeaky springs that were hidden deep within. Cheerilee however sat rigid as a plank.

Looking at the faces of the other ponies waiting did not re-assure Cheerilee much either, it had the opposite effect in fact; It only made her thoughts dwell on the worst case scenario. even that was growing worse by the second, plummeting deeper and deeper into a well of negativity till she finally hit the bottom of the chasm of hopelessness where thoughts where just downright macabre.

A crisp voice with a re-assuring smile snapped her out of it, providing a rope for her thoughts to climb back out of the well and once again frolic in the bright fields of luscious green grass on the surface and bask in the warm tender glow of Celestia’s sun. “The doctor is ready to see your Vinyl now Miss Cheerilee”

Cheerilee rose from her seat and prompted Vinyl to follow suit, she leaped off the tattered armchair to land neatly on all fours. As they walked Cheerilee instructed “now Vinyl remember to be on your best behavior for the doctor now, i don't want any mischief. He is here to help you”.

Vinyl turned his head to face Cheerilee and simply said “yes momma” and resumed trotting along close to his mother’s hind legs. So close in fact that she nearly tripped over him more than once.

Looking around as she trotted Vinyl decided she did not like it in the hospital. Sure they had awesome chairs which are great for bouncing on but nopony ever smiles and more importantly it was soooooooo quiet.

“Hhmmmm. Hmmm. yes it’s as I thought, now miss Cheerilee as we managed to establish with our appointment last week the damage to young Vinyl’s eyes seem to be from some sort of tear in the tissue of the eye which has resulted in the warped appearance you can see in the scar tissue. From what I have observed I can give you some good news though.”

Cheerilee’s heart leapt up almost as fast as her spirits at this little nugget of hope.

“This kind of damage will not make her completely blind; she will be able to see light and dark patches. Rather like if you were to close your eyes and look towards the sun, you would still notice if you put your hoof in the way of the sun”

“Oh that’s, that’s just, I’m just. Thank you, doctor. Thank you so much, I was panicking so much that you would say it was infected, or septic, or or or something just as bad”

Turning now to they light of her life, tears etching rivers down contours of her cheeks “oh my brave little soldier, Vinyl you hear that you’re going to be ok”

“Ahem, Miss Cheerilee, that said I am afraid we cannot do anything to recover poor Vinyl’s sight to normal. It just isn’t possible, the warped scar tissue, it’s just too extensive. I'm sorry ”

Silence borne of pure manifested pain engulfed the room. The hollow silence originated from the young purple mare; swallowing all emotions, leaving her hollow as the muteness that had become her. Once the silence had taken over Cheerilee it began seeping through the room, flooding all thoughts of joy and hope far off beyond the horizon.

Her face a blank mask, hiding only a yet more blank mind. Her brain was bleached by the sudden, terrible news. She was powerless, she could do nothing to stop this, to save her filly.

The doctor’s eyes looked truly sorrowful as if he was the one who had caused this terrible affliction to happen. His job had required him to deliver bad news such as this to so many ponies before this, and over such a long time. With each one of them a piece of his heart had withered and died. Each one was etched into his mind so deep that every night they would come to haunt his dreams.

‘I’m the doctor for this town, it is my job to make sure nopony gets hurt, yet ponies like this one here have such terrible injuries and even I cannot do anything to help them. Sometimes I wonder if I even make a difference.’

He so badly wanted to say this out loud, but he knew it would be both indelicate and unprofessional of him to confide in a patient in such a manner at a time like this.

The silence had propagated and was now flourishing exponentially, with nopony willing to brake it the tension in the air so strong that it could have snapped at any point. Just the three ponies, standing, waiting. With every passing second the wall of muteness between each of the three ponies grew taller, thicker, and increasingly difficult to brake through.

Wow what’s all the quiet for? Come on everypony it’s worse than that waiting room in here. Ahhh seriously what’s going on, I don’t think I can take this much longer. WHAT IS WRONG? WHERE’S THE PROBLEM?

“Momma why is he talking like I’m broken, like I need fixing. What’s wrong, what have I done, there’s nothing wrong with me. I’m fine”

“Vinyl darling”

Cheerilee had to take several deep breaths to collect herself before continuing.

“Vinyl darling, there is something I need to talk to you about. You know how you see things, when you open your eyes?”

“well, yea. Of course I do”

“the thing is most ponies don’t see like that at all, most ponies have really good eyesight and we can see all kinds of details, it helps a lot with day-to-day life because we can see exactly what we are doing”

“I have been so worried that if we can’t fix your eyesight that you won’t ever be able to see like most ponies, I worry that this will make your life incredibly difficult, especially when you grow up and have to get a job. Your eyes are damaged, that’s why we are here at the doctors”

“now you’re doin’ it too! Stop talking about me as if I need fixing. I’m not broken. I’m perfectly happy just the way I am.”

Cheerilee let out a sigh of resignation, she knew taking this further would achieve nothing and she knew that Vinyl must be feeling like a freak right now. She was desperate for some comfort, even though this was well concealed beneath the righteous defensive rage she was showing.

“come here my Vinyl, I love you; you know that right? I just want to give you everything I can. To give you the best chance in life that I can”

“I just want to be the best mother I can be, for you”

“Momma. You are”

“Oh my gosh look at this one, oh no check this one out”

“Ah wait this one is way to epic even for words”

“Oh momma seriously check this one out; dark blue leather AND cyan trim I’m tellin’ you this thing was made for me. Look how much room it has, and wait for it; seven side pockets. seven! not two, not five, seven!!! Think of all the awesome stuff I can put in them”

Vinyl bounced up and down on the spot in the middle of the shop, holding between her beaming grin a pair of blue saddlebags held together by two thick leather back-straps. Cheerilee had taken her out to buy her first school saddlebags ready for starting school in the next week, she had promised Vinyl she could have any pair she wanted.

“woe there little one, calm down now. Don’t you think you should try them on first; make sure they are comfortable first. You’re going to be using them a for a very long time so we should make sure there the right ones”

“Sweeeeeeeeeet! where’s the changing rooms”

“Just follow me Vinyl, there over here behind the fancy frou frou dresses”

Vinyl bolted to the back of the shop, ignoring complaints from browsing shoppers. Within seconds she was behind the grey silken curtains of a changing booth. She tossed the saddlebags over her shoulders where they crumpled in a heap on her back.

“hmmm this getting dressed lark is harder than it looks”

Picking up the saddlebags buy one of the individual satchels she slid the whole garment over and round her waist till the back-straps where central, she could figure out the proper way to do it later, right now was a time to show off her epic new saddlebags.

She swished the curtains open for dramatic affect then slowly and deliberately strutted down the hallway of changing booths, admiring her own reflection in the wall of mirrors to her right.

Lookin’ good Vinyl, lookin’ good

Before she reached the end of the hallway and had the chance to show off the saddlebags to her momma a pair of curtains to a booth ahead of her where delicately pulled open and a grey filly regally stepped out, an air of majesty surrounding her.

Vinyl smiled at the grey filly and complimented how the socks she was trying on looked good on her as she approached closer. Vinyl liked talking with new ponies, she was nice like that.

The grey filly smiled back and thanked her. She took a deliberate look at the saddlebags Vinyl was wearing and said

“I must say I do admire how wonderfully those saddlebags suit you, they appear as though they were simply made for you. Oh but they seem to not have a girth to them, one simply cannot fathom how such a garment could possibly stay in position without a girth.”

“oh that belly strap thing? I couldn’t figure out how to buckle the thing up so I just left it in the changing booth”

Stifling a chuckle at the white filly’s rugged humor with a delicate hoof raised practicedly to her muzzle. The grey filly beckoned her new friend back further down the hall where Vinyl had just come from.

“Come come, I shall show you how one attaches a girth strap. Trust me it is quite simple once somepony shows you how it is done. Now which booth where you using?”

“Uh thanks, it’s the second from the end” Vinyl answered as she followed happily after the grey filly she had just met.

“The name’s Vinyl by the way, what’s yours?”

“My name is Octavia, and I must say it has been a pleasure bumping into you. You see we have just moved house here to this quaint little town from Canterlot”

Octavia explained as she turned round into the second to last booth and picked the girth belt up from where it had been cast to the floor in heated impatience.

With her head bowed close to the floor, the girth dangling limply in her mouth, her eyes briefly flicked upwards and accidentally made contact with Vinyl’s vibrant red irises.

Blushing with what she thought was embarrassment; she was not sure. Octavia dropped her field of vision and brushed a front hoof back on the marble floor, holding it raised a little.

“So how d’ya get this thing on? I tried but that buckle thingy is harder that it looks”

“Ahem, if you would allow me. One simply takes the strap here”

Octavia indicated to the thick blue leather straps dangling from underneath the two satchels.

“And threads them through the pair of brass D-ring loops here, at each end of the girth”

“He he he hee ahhh stop it, your tickling me. Aaahahaha”

resisting the urge to drop and roll after some time Vinyl managed to recover from her fit of giggles with wheezing breaths. She paused to let the laughter pains in her intercostal muscles fade, not to mention the sensation that her diaphragm had been stretched across half of Ponyville. Eventually she managed to find words.

“hooooo those socks of yours sure are fluffy, awwww man I haven’t laughed so hard in weeks!”

Stifling delicate chuckles of her own Octavia managed to gather herself “ahem, yes my old fluffy socks have become somewhat worn out, and it is to celebrate a special occasion after all”.

“nice, what’s the occasion”

“I have been enrolled into Ponyville private academy, so I thought it permitable to treat myself with a guilty pleasure”.

“sweet, you must be super intelegent to get into that place”

Blood running to her cheeks, dying them a deeper shade of crimson Octavia accepted Vinyl’s praise in the most graceful fashion she could muster at such short notice. Usually she know if she had done something worthy of praise and could therefor rehearse a suitably polite way to accept compliments, somehow now it was different.
“well I study very hard every day”

“wow that strap thingy’s awesome, I can’t wait to show momma”

“hey, you should come say hi too, she’s just round the corner”

“I would love to Vinyl however I doubt my current attire is appropriate for a first introduction with your parents”

“perhaps another time, under more permitable circumstances?”

“wow, you really are posh. Well whatever you say Octavia.”

“I’m sure I’ll see ya around what with you living here in town”

“yes, quite, I look forward to it”

Chapter 4

the effervescent sun was hanging in the sky spreading it's smile across ponyville. There was not a cloud in sight, not the thinnest of cotton whisps.

"Hey your a teacher, you know stuff right?"

Flattered by her daughters compliment Cheerilee answered warily "yes Vinyl" for she knew that with Vinyl complements where often followed by 'can i have this' or 'can i have that'.

"Why is the sky blue?"

Cheerilee's brow made like a plow; furrowed. After walking through ponyville town for some time in silent contemplation with Vinyl eagerly at her side she gave in "i don't think i know the answer to that question my dear, why do you ask?"

"oh, no reason. It's just, it's just the sky y'know it's pretty and stuff" Vinyl said as she walked along, her head tilted right back gazing at the sky above her.

"it's a weird kinda blue isn't it, like a cyan but not quite as bright. And it's not the same all over, over there see it gets darker like, like, like a sapphire."

Looking suprised Cheerilee faced her daughter and said "Why yes i suppose it does. Vinyl, how can you see the sky exactly the same as how i can? And since when di you get so poetic, are you feeling alright?

"hey i can be sophisticated without having something wrong with me" Vinyl retorted. Her stride broke as she stopped walking to put emphasis in her statement. Cheerilee just turned her head without even slowing down and told her daughter she better hurry up or they will be late for school.

Vinyl was pretty sure she had made her point so she didn't take it any further. She cantered past her mother shouting against the wind as she passed her "come on slow-coach, or we'll be late for school" in a distorted mimic of her mother's tone.

"oh it is on"

Cheerilee transitioned her gait from walking straight into a full gallop, skipping out trot and canter altogether. She was soon catching up with her young one and closing in fast. Weaving in and out of lamp-posts, skidding round corners, engulfing other ponies in a dusty haze. All to catch up with the elusive Vinyl who somehow managed to out-weigh Cheerilee's speed with her nimble agility.

Taking a final leap of faith she soared through the sky to land dead on target; she had Vinyl now, locked in a ball of limbs and giggles.

Recovering from their laughter they both managed to stand and after straightening up Vinyl's brand new saddlebags they resolved that they should get heading to the school again. Trotting back down to the end of the road, both with huge grins on their faces. At the end of the road there was a gap where no houses had yet been built, on the town side of the empty space was the famous sugarcube corner and at the other side was the school.

crossing this void took only a few minutes and soon they where climbing the granite steps to the front entrance. "Ok Vinyl you know where your classroom is right, have a good day" Cheerilee said, and followed in a hushed tone "and keep the mischief on the low, please"

Vinyl stood outside her classroom leaning on the wall, not so much for support just.... added coolness. Waiting for other ponies to arrive was boooooooore - ring, why was there nothing to do round these places. After what seemed like hours some more ponies started turning up, they all looked really nervous and didn't talk very much. sure a few mumbles where exchanged but nothing that could constitute words.

Vinyl couldn't take the awkwardness any longer, this was just like the doctor's all over again. DAMN YOU SILENCE, YOU WILL NEVER WIN. she turned to the closest pony to her and cracked out the best ice-braker she could come up with.

"soooooo your new here too right, i'm Vinyl, whats your name?"

Bam, just like harmony to a wendigo the ice cracked into a thousand tiny shards and tinkled to the floor.

The beige filly she was talking to nervously answered "H-hi I'm Twist". she was saved from further conversation by the sound of purposeful hoof-steps echoing through the hallway, the sound was soon followed by an old mare emerging from round the corner.

"hey about time, eh" vinyl muttered to twist, giving her a light elbow nudge to emphasize her point. This managed to lighten the mood sufficiently and even got a snicker out of twist.

"alright kido's lets get you in class, now when i open the door don't all rush to your seats at once. Take your time choosing carefully now"

Of course not a single student was eager to dedicate themselves to a particular seat straight away, they all just lingered on the sidelines, watching the seats with fear and apprehension. All except one filly of course, Vinyl picked her way through the back row of tables and plonked herself down on the second to back row. She would have chosen the right hand back corner but this place just in front was a window seat, windows are cool.

Pretty soon she noticed no other ponies where taking their seats, they where all wide-eyed staring at them as if the seats where some gaping jaw about to eat them "yo whats up with everypony, did someone put superglue on the walls again or something?"

"c'mon, sooner we start the sooner we can finish"

Incensed by Vinyl's enthusiasm and a little cheered up by her jovial nature ponies began to pluck up the courage to move off the wall. One by one at first, students drifted towards the seats and carefully chose which one they would like to sit in. Once a few had moved in the rest soon followed suit.

"alrighty then class, my name is Miss Elizabeth" the teacher said then turned to the blackboard at the front of the room and wrote her name up on it.

While the teacher was writing up her name Vinyl lent over to the pony sat next to her and said in a wholly uninterested monotone "this looks like it's gonna be fun. Hey can you do this" behind the teachers back Vinyl contorted her face through un-natural positions to force her tongue into toughing her nose for the other pony. The yellow pony next to her stifled chuckles behind a hoof and tried to imitate the contortions but with little success, which Vinyl found greatly amusing.

Vinyl's amusement was cut short when the teacher turned back around and announced "as it's the first lesson of the day i think it would be nice for every pony to get to know each other. So if you would each like to pair up with the pony next to you, you've got ten minutes to exchange three facts about each other."

"your ten minutes starts; now"

The cacophony of every chair in the room being pushed back in unison flooded the room as everypony turned to face their respective neighbors and began exchanging information about each other.

Swiveling round in her seat the yellow pony faced the white pony next to her. "So ah guess we should be start'n with our names"

"Sounds like a plan partner, the name's Vinyl what's yours?"

"why ah'm Applebloom, me an mah family run sweet apple acres just out'a town"

"Woe there filly now you got one fact up on me, now let me see...... stuff about me. hmmmm... well i live in town"

"and i suppose i could use that my momma is Cheerilee, the third years teacher"

"Ah neat, ah bet she must teach ya loads a cool stuff" said Appleblooom but with a cheeky grin she replied "but now ya see it's ya'll that's got one up on me"

"Not many ponies know this;" her volume reduced to a hushed whisper "sometimes when AJ aint lookin' ah like t' wear her hat. ya can't let her find out though, why she'd tan mah hide if she ever did"

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes and booming guffaws ricocheted off the walls of the classroom halting the clamoring exchange of personal information and drawing all eyes to the pair of fillies near the back of the room.

"Alright class i think that's enough time for discussion, shall we move on to the lesson now" Miss Elizabeth said to return the classes eyes to their rightful positions, faced forwards towards the board.

The lesson was easy peasy for Vinyl, her momma had taught her this stuff ages ago and it was all just common sense to her now. Of course that didn't make the lesson any less grueling for her. When it finally ended she joined the charge to the door with every other foal and filly and was going to walk straight home but she found Twist and Applebloom together on the main semi-circle stairs. When they saw Vinyl come through the doors they walked towards her through the crowds of evacuating ponies.

"hey girls!" she called out to them as they approached "that lesson was such a drag, right"

"ha ha yea" Twist called back in agreement

They finally managed to permeate through the bustling crowd outside the school and where able to speak normally to each other "Me an Twist jus' wan'ed ta say goodbye an we'll see ya'll tomorrow before we all hit the dusty track back home"

"Ah'll have ta say goodbye here but Twist lives in town too an she said she can walk back some o tha way with you"

"okay Applebloom, see ya later alligator"

"so where abouts do you live then Twist?"

"Oh it's near the west side of the town, number seven foxtrot lane" she recited with great concentration. Her mother had taught her to remember her address in case she ever got lost but she still had to concentrate to remember it.

"There's something i don't get" Twist said as Vinyl started towards town. Twist remained fixed to the spot with a questioning look behind her comically over-sized glasses "Applebloom was saying earlier that Cheerilee's your mum, is that right"

"She sure is, and i can honestly say there is no momma more awesome than her"

"Shouldn't we like wait for her? As you two are going to the same place and all"

"ahhh Twist you silly filly, didn't you know that teachers stay behind for ages after us. Don't know what they do exactly, teacher-y things i guess" Vinyl was left with a nugget of contemplation, she had answered one question but in the process had stumbled across another. This truly was a conundrum to her logic. she stood for a few seconds chewing on the nugget before disregarding it as boring.

A short beckon to her new friend and a "come on, it's getting cold just standing round here all day" soon got the two fillies on the move and heading into town to their respective homes.

The week went on and everything was going well. Vinyl found that she already knew everything that Miss was teaching the class, she guessed that's what happens when your momma's a teacher. It wasn't that she was super clever just that this stuff happened to be common sense to her. Of course the great advantage of already knowing what is being taught is that she didn't need to concentrate on the teaching. And of course not having to concentrate on the teaching allowed her to have fun; cracking jokes in tactical places, pulling funny faces, passing notes, doodling, tapping on the tables, life was brilliant! but beyond this glade of joy there was a creature lurking in the shadows, a creature born of pure distilled hatred. It's eyes twinned whirlpools in the inky black bestormed sea. Lurking, ,watching, waiting.

"Hey tavi, watcha doin?" Vinyl shouted above the clamor of the weekend market.

Octavia thought she heard a familiar voice above the din of a hundred other voices haggling over wares and such, she stopped and gracefully cast her gaze around in one fluid movement. It was like she had practiced the routine a thousand times before and now was it's grad public unveiling.

She was shocked when out of the crowd before her leapt a body of pure white, streaks of electric blue flapping like streamers behind it. "Ah Vinyl how nice it is to see you again" it took but an instant to realize who it was addressing her and at once a grin spread across her face as Vinyl crashed to the floor, sprawled on the cobblestones. She would have beamed from ear to ear and even laughed if it where not for her etiquette holding her back.

"you really should give more attention to your landing, i think i have a book on pegasi landing techniques you could borrow if it should please you" announced Octavia through her smile, this was cracking her up.

"haha nice one, very funny Tavi" came the sarcastic reply "i would have landed perfectly. If it wasn't for that puddle over there, water is damn slippery ya know"

"yes I'm sure you would have. How have you been, we have not me since the time in the changing rooms"

"I'm good, school's easy peasy. I already know the stuff we're being taught so i get to mess around all lesson and when the teacher notices she does that thing when a teacher thinks they're gonna humiliate you" adopting her best teacher voice

"Vinyl would you like to explain to the class what you have just missed while you were pulling faces behind my back?"

"Then i come back at her and get it completely right, total burn, i tell ya Tavi the look on her face. Priceless!"

"So hows that posh school panning out for ya?"

Octavia's face lit up at the mention of her school "oh it's simply marvelous, true most of the other students are not quite as sophisticated as i, however i still feel at home there. Like i belong." her eyes glinted in the sunlight as she continued her account of the marvelous things she got up to. Vinyl kind of filtered the long posh words out but still got the main gist and managed to nod and smile in the right places, she liked Octavia and she didn't want to offend her "and the elocution lessons, oh they are divine! Of course i excel in that particular lesson. The teacher truly brings our language to life"

vinyl getting settled into school
1 outside classroom
2 going in and choosing seats
3 first lesson
4 go home, cheerilee has to stay back later to do teacher-y things

repeat 3 and 4 to develop the feel of vinyl being popular

vinyl bumps into Octavia in town and they chat for a bit about their different schools

vinyl being bullied
1 have a good first day of second week
2 end of day somepony from a higher year "hey guys look it's the special filly that can't anything"
"dude that's a bit harsh"...... "nahh it aint. anyway it's not like she can tell who i am: she can't see me"
3 this scenario continues. she's the heart of her class, always enigmatic, and everyone in her year knows her and recognizes her awesomeness but no-one in her year knows about her getting bullied.
4 short scene as main bully organizing others to chase vinyl out of school and out of town

As soon as the class was dismissed all the fillies and foals made their usual mad dash out of the classroom and into freedom. Vinyl said her goodbyes to Twist and Applebloom at the semi-circle steps of the main entrance and they went their separate ways. Vinyl headed towards the road that led past Sugarcube corner and up to her house right at the other end and round the corner, it wasn't the fastest way but she hoped she would 'accidentally' bump into Octavia again.

It would have gone to plan as well if the cruel hand of fate had not intervened. It just so happened that the jet black colt who had upset Vinyl the day before was standing at the entrance to a dank alleyway off the main street, and this time he had more than two other friends.

Vinyl, not being able to see details could tell there was a pony in front of her however at this distance she couldn't tell who it was unless they spoke, or had some kind of distinguishing feature like say a horn of wings. She moved to the side so she could safely walk around the pony ahead of her.

"hey old red eyes is back for more" he called to his friends who promptly emerged from the inky shadows

"cant you see were hangin over here, this area is for cool ponies only "

Vinyl recognised that voice. That was the voice of that meanie, she could only stammer and try to carry on walking in the direction she was going. They soon put a stop to that of course, forming a line of colts seven strong. The barricade completely blocked her way, any hope of continuing on her way soon died.

"oh yea of course you cant see, your a freak. ha i almost forgot"

hurt speared through Vinyl's heart, tears burnt through her eyes. She turned and bolted for somewhere, anywhere but here. Somewhere safe, where she could be alone, without those horrible colts.

"yea you better run" they shouted after her as she dissipated into the crowd of market shoppers.

When she had gone and they had finished calling after her one colt said "yo guys, d'ya think she can even cry properly" which had the rest laugh so hard they fell to the floor clutching their stomachs.

After a long while they recovered their composure and started walking through the streets. As they walked one colt said "i heard that cheerilee isn't even her real mother" and was closely followed by another colt

"yea i heard she was just left abandoned one night"

This stayed hanging in the air for a short while, the seven colts all looking at each other while they walked through the town, some of them felt kinda sorry for the filly so didn't want to actually say anything. A jet black colt with a mane of pure obsidian, the very same colt that had started the bullying of Vinyl, broke the hush

"don't you see it guys, this is perfect! man we can REALLY get to her now"

"tomorrow. Meet me in the alley straight after school and bring your chains, I've got a plan"

vinyl getting run out of town
1 finish at school
2 start walking home, get half way to sugarcube corner when bullies pounce.
3 vinyl gets chased. stones get thrown, words are shouted at her........ect
4 run up a hill and into outskirts of everfree forest
5 bullies are to chicken to follow her, they linger, hurling abuse and rocks, a few hit her, one on the forehead and cheek and a few on the side........ and her bag gets ripped on a tree
6 she lies in a heap under a tree crying all night

vinyl the next day
1 makes her way home - cannot bring herself to go to school
2 wallows, goes to bed
3 Cheerilee gets back, all worried, turns out she didn't go to school either, she was searching for vinyl all night and day since she didn't come back after school

confession time
1 cheerilee is all like why didnt you come back, and where did you go, i was so worried
2 vinyl recounts her tale
3 cheerilee is all "why didnt you tell me earlyer i could have sorted it out .... blah blah blah"
4 vinyl explians that she doesnt know who they are cos she cant actually see them

cheerilee sorts the twats out the next day and they kinda hold off the bullying for a while and life is good but they still take the piss out of her (only more slyly cos now they know vinyl is a teachers daughter)

round Tavi's
1 vinyls bumps into tavi again and they chat and she notices vinyles saddlebags are ripped
2 she insists on repairing her friends most precious saddlebags
3 invites vinyl over to her house, which rurns out to be next door to sugarcube corner
4 vinyl stops still and gapes at the scene "woa, hold up a second..... you... you live next door to sugarcube corner?!!! that is SO awesome!
5 Tavi tells vinyl to stop fishing for fly's with her mouth and come in
6 vinyl sits around while Tavi repairs her bags and chatting happens about tavi's school. vinyl purposely asks loads of questions so Tavi doesn't have chance to ask how the bag got ripped
7 after a while the dreaded question drops into conversation......
8 vinyl has to explain that she got run out of town
9 sympathy for vinyl

staying over
1 vinyl is in a bad state, feeling like she would be lonely if she went home
2 Octavia reads this in her friend and offers a girls night, vinyl has to check with her mom so she doesn't worry
3 they both take a walk back to the school to ask Cheerilee and she is fine with it
4 on their way back they stop off at SC corner just before it closes to stock up on provisions

changes
1 in the middle of a class vinyl's horn suddenly starts glowing and she blacks out
2 scene where she has a vision of her mother on the moon where she is banished
3 Luna senses a stress threat to her daughter so she teaches vinyl to use magic and tells her she will be coming back soon.
4 nightmare moon takes over and cuts off the confection

coming home
1 summer sun celebration
2 battle of nightmare moon
3 luna comes back to ponyville, does the ceremony, then goes to see her daughter
4 she tells vinyl her special tallent

learning the ropes
1 vinyl learning how to DJ, mostly at twilight's library reading books on the subject
2

a DJ with no set
1 luna organizes a public set for vinyl to DJ for

chapter one : foundling

The life of Vinyl Scratch

chapter one : foundling

Waking up in an empty house is the most terrible thing, I would not wish it on anyone. Unfortunately that is how Cheerilee's story begins for on this most fateful of mornings she woke in an empty house. Every room in the new house resounded nothingness. In the hollow silence the ticking of a single clock was her only companion.

Like scatered stardust the moon still pierced the fabric of her curtains. The morning was still young. she tried to get back to sleep, knowing she would need it for the long day ahead. A sudden thundercrack outside crashed to the ground, the sound rattling her porcelain brain. Thunder now fulminating in her head as she lay wide awake, she abandoned her attempt at going back to sleep and groggily sliped from beneath her blaketed haven and into the world of moonlit shadows.

Yellow bolts still scraping through her eardrums, flashing scourges across her brain. Managing to trip only twice on her way to a room which at this hour is even darker than her bedroom, even the moons light could not breath life into it's depths.

Abated, the storm now doused by the warm waters of her washing. Feeling if not mor awake then certainly more allert. Wind rattled unheeded at the windows os she made her slow advance towards the oaken front door.

Beeeeeeep!!!!

Cheerilee’s alarm bell emitted a screeching wail which scraped through her ears and scourged the tissue of her brain, waking her abruptly from her pleasant slumber and introducing her to the lacklustre world of reality.

As if the day had not started off bad enough a realisation came crashing into her mind like a storm-borne wave smashing against the bow of a ship. today was the day. Today was the first day of her new job.

She reluctantly rose from her sheets with groggy movements. Stumbling clumsily as she tripped on her own hoof as she phlegmatically undertook preparations to leave the house. She was not a morning kind of pony. She forsook breakfast; her stomach was too twisted with anxiety to possibly accept food.

Making her way over to the school despite the time being somewhere around 5:00AM; she knew she was running at least an hour early because Princess Celestia had not even brought the sun up yet, but she didn’t care. There was too much anxiety swirling around her head like a maelstrom of thoughts weakening the significance of such concepts as time.

Walking through the town so early in the morning gave her a rare glimpse at a more tranquil Ponyville, bathed in the soft gossamer glow of the distant moon. This alternate Ponyville contrasted with the usual cornucopia of dazzling colours assaulting the eyes from every angle. The night, Cheerilee decided, had a certain delicate beauty to it. Such subtlety simply did not exist in the radiant splendour of the effulgent sun.

‘it is a shame’ Cheerilee contemplated ‘that the night is so often neglected, most ponies are safely tucked away in their cosy beds. Missing out’.

When Cheerilee finally got to the school grounds nopony else was there, approaching the front double doors right at the front of the school house in the delicate silence. She trotted up the 5 levels of granite semi-circular steps, her hooves cutting through the crisp dry mute that lingered in the air, only to find that the double doors where still locked.

Still feeling a little anxious about her first day despite the calm of the night she decided to take a walk around the place in the hope that it would sooth her nerves. The school buildings where obviously off limits for now so that left only the field and the playground to be explored. Trotting across the field she soon found herself at the school playground where there where swings to her left squeeking in the light chilled breeze, a see-saw to her right, a small climbing frame dead ahead of her and just behind that; an old box…..

Wait a box? What in equestria is an old box doing in a school playground?

Utterly perplexed as to the origin of this queer item Cheerilee took a few slow tentative steps towards the box. One, two, three, four, CRACK Cheerilee had not been looking at where she was stepping, her eyes fixed so intently on this strange box. Consequently she had stepped on a twig which had promptly snapped in protest. At this sudden loud sound the box began to move, swaying slightly, then a muffled sound came from it…….

Cheerilee was momentarily shocked into freezing to the spot as if petrified by this sudden turn of events, but came around after a few hushed deep breaths. she abandoned all attempts to sneak up quietly; swiftly closing the remaining distance between her and the box. She gingerly peered over the top of the box having no idea what she expected to find, and saw………………………………………………..

The most adorable little filly with a brilliant white coat glowing like a tiny beacon of solace in a sea of darkness, accompanied by an equally bright electric blue mane and tail with streaks of cyan. The foal was curled up in a foetal position, presumably in a last-ditch attempt to keep warm.

She was shivering in the frigid night air.

Princess Celestia had made the sun rise somewhen but Cheerilee had not noticed exactly when. Even so, the young sun’s faint glow had not yet had enough time to bring warmth and comfort to the frigid air. Scanning the surroundings carefully to see if anypony was around; maybe the parents of the filly where nearby?

Nopony was anywhere to be seen. But casting her vision back from where she had come from, over the other side of the field which was now to her left she noticed the front double doors to the school where now open; whispering enticements of warmth and security.

Fighting conflicting argumnts Cheerilee deduced that the foal had most likely been left here by his parents, who for some reason felt unable to raise him so had left him at a location he would be found and cared for; a school. So with a final check of her surroundings to make sure the parents really where not coming back, she picked up the box and balanced it delicately on her back so she could walk it and the precious cargo carefully into the school and hopefully out of this haunting cold.

Once in the school corridors the temperature began to increase, the air becoming comfortingly warm. The filly clearly appreciated this as a she gave a little wriggle and a faint content sigh. Cheerilee didn’t know where to take filly or what to do with her, so Cheerilee took her to the only room she knew: the staff room. Finding her way was easy enough; her memory was good with directions.

The corridor ran straight ahead and at the end there was a block of lockers and a pair of dark blue double doors to her left, through these was a second corridor but this one was irrelevant as the first door to her right was clearly marked

‘STAFF ROOM teachers only’.

Pushing the door open with her purple snout Cheerilee scanned the room for some-place to put the filly down, she was getting quite heavy and Cheerilee was not the strongest of ponies. Her back was not best pleased with the aditional weight and told her just as much.

There was a small black-board in the near right corner and an L shaped granite worktop in the far right corner cluttered with all kinds of things from the normalities such as a coffee machine to a microwave to the not-so-normalities like the mound of magazines scattered about as though they had just had a civil war.

In the centre of the room were two deep red sofas with a swirly patterned fabric, one facing towards the doorway and the other facing away from it and between these two sofas was the most exquisitely carved oak coffee table that had graced Cheerilee's eyes.

Cheerilee trotted over to the low table, mesmarised by it's beauty and set the box down on it. Slumping deep into the sofa which faced away from the entrance. She was emotionally drained already and the day of teaching had not even begun!

Her mind throbbing, she attempted to collect herself, however distraction overtook.

The top half of the legs where squared with the angular edges carved off in a wide W shape, then a sill projected outwards to partition the top and bottom sections of the leg, finally the bottoms of each leg where rounded off into an hourglass shape which was wider at the top than the bottom and then each leg was terminated with an elegantly carved perfect sphere.

Cheerilee cut off her momentary strange fascination with the table legs in front of her and concentrated on more pressing matters.

She peered over the top of the box to look in at the filly for the second time; it was only now that she was captivated by the immense cuteness of the perfect white ball of fur. She had always been good with children (despite being unable to have her own), that is what had kept her motivated in training to become a teacher; it was her special talent after all.

“tha’s it Cheerilee jus get ya left hoof onto that there ledge and you’ll be able to pull yourself up here easy as pie” came a re-assuring voice from over the top of the jagged outcrop of rock.

Cheerilee had made the fatal error of looking down and oh boy was she regretting it; wispy clouds swirled round the monolithic shard of rock that was below her. The challenge of climbing to the summit of the mountain had seemed like a fun idea at first, but it started to get scary even before they broke the cloud layer. they where now far past that piont.

She was currently a gibbering wreck, desperately babbling apologies of submission. She begged that if she really must go on could they at least try to find another way around, maybe one with less spiky rocks and menacing outcrops such as the one before her now.

“ah come on Cheer it aint that bad, hey ah’m younger than ya'l by more than a year so if ah can do it you can” came the voice again. A head popped over the edge of the outcrop and smiled down at her, then a hoof was offered to provide support.

“here take mah hoof and ah’ll pull ya'l up here, then we won’t go any higher. ah swear. We’ll just stay here and set up camp, light a fire, heck it’ll be like a picknick. an' when everypony else gets ta the top we’ll just tell them to get some pegasi to bring us back down.

Cheerilee took comfort in the sense of her friends words and with a grimace, extended her hoof towards her friend's. The warmth of her friend's hoof gave her some comfort but in truth the warmth in her heart from knowing she would always be safe wither friend Big Mac was what allowed her to finally move, and climb over the top of the outcrop with it’s cruel serrations.

“EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

A deafening screech ricocheted back and forth across the sky, emanating from the pair of ponies stuck on the mountainside, piercing the ears of any unfortunate enough to in habit the desolate mountain range.

Cheerilee was snapped back into reality by the filly crying in her box. She panicked at this moment but only for a split second, then her maternal instinct kicked in and she reached both forelegs into the box and picked up the foal in her supple purple hooves then held the little furry ball in her cradled forelegs, the fine long hairs of adolecence still lingering on the filly's coat. being held seemed to settle the poor filly and she gave a little hiccup then smiled.

“good morning there, I hear you are the new teacher, Cheerilee is it? O wow is that a foal daaawwwww isn’t he just the cutest. Harrow little one” a merry voice came from the entrance of the staffroom.

Cheerilee, somewhat shocked turned around to find a mottled grey mare who had a faded white tail and mane styled into a shampoo and set, she stood a hand or so shorter than Cheerilee herself and she guessed was some twenty years older than herself buy the looks of it. Cheerilee was, to say the least, bemused; surely such an animated voice could not have come from such a wizened mare as the one before her.

However, the grey mare in the doorway was sprightly beaming towards Cheerilee and the filly with such glee that the source of the voice simply must be her.

“Oh, I should warn you; the other teachers here can be quite boring but stick with me and you’ll have plenty of fun here. I’m Elizabeth, o but you can call me Lizzy”

“Ahhh yes….. it’s nice to meet you Lizzy, my name is Cheerilee and this is…… well I suppose I don’t know….. You see I just found her this morning out by the playground in this box all on her own, it was just so bitterly cold out there so i bought the poor little one in here where it’s warmer. I think she must have been abandoned”

“So you got no idea of who she is or where she came from? isn’t that just the saddest thing you ever heard” the grey mare said, suddenly sobered from her previous excitement. A thought crept into Cheerilee’s mind during the ensuing silence that surprisingly had not crossed her before this moment;

“ who in equestria is going to look after the poor filly”

Lizzy paused for a few seconds, her brow visibly furrowed showing she was in deep thought “well I’d be happy to look after the adorable little thing but I’ll be honest I’m not the most able bodied of pony’s on account of my ripe age and all”.

“no, no, your right it would be unfair to ask you to look after him” Cheerilee said, then her inside voice whispered to her:

“now’s your chance Cheer, you know you can’t have your own children, but right here, right now fate has given you an opportunity to be the brilliant mother you are destined to be. Now’s your chance”.

“CHEER WHAT HAPPENED ARE YOU ALRIGHT!!!!”

“aahhhh ooooo”

“STAY WITH ME CHEERILEE, HOLD ON IN THERE. You’re gonna get through this, ah’m jus’ gonna turn y’al over an’ take a look at what were dealin’ with.”

Another moan of pain emanated from Cheerilee’s now hoarse throat as a bolt of lightening shot through her body; starting from her extremities towards her spine, finally raising a full on assault of her brain.

“you’re gonna be fine now Cheerilee, ah’v got ya. Ah know just what ta do, trust me m'ah papa taught me how ta deal with exactly this here kinda injury on the cattle down at the farm.” Big Mackintosh reassured Cheerilee with his outer voice.

His inner voice however was screaming the reverse argument. ‘holy buck, what in the hay am ah meant ta do now!!! Oh celestia ah can’t let anythin’ happen to her’

He began to take a closer inspection of the wound that Cheerilee had sustained; a long jagged gash ran from inside her left foreleg all the way down to her right hind and all along it were shards of rock breccia. He had no idea how deep the cut was but gauging by the volume of blood that had already escaped and the pain his friend was in he guessed it was pretty deep.

‘oh crap ahhhhhh what in the hay should ah do.’ Came Big Mack’s inside voice again. ‘ah’ll-right, so were gonna need ta get the blood ta stop flowin’, that’s obvious enough. But were gonna have ta get those shards o’ rock outa there first. Ok Big Mack, you can do this.’

After this internal pep-talk Big Mack was ready to act. Continuing in his best reassuring voice “ah’ll-right there Cheer ah’m gonna go get some water so ah can wash it out then ah’m gonna get those there nasty pieces o’ rock outa there, then we’ll get ya’l bandaged up. Ah’ll have ya cured faster than ya can harvest a field o’ zap apples”

She had to be stupid or crazy or even both but Cheerilee blurted it out anyway “I will bring her up as if she where my own child. O but Lizzy would you still help me only it won’t be easy and I don’t have a very special somepony to help me”

“of course I can help you darling, and I’m sure all the other teachers would love to help you too” replied Elizabeth. “right. now we’ve got that bit over and done with, you should start to think about some names for your filly my dear”

DRIINNNNNG the brass bell mounted above the door rang for the start of the first lesson

“o dear is that the time already, you had better be getting off to your class my dear, no use being late for your own lesson now is there. Why, the children would never let you forget it” Elizabeth jibed.

Cheerilee reluctantly rose from the sofa still holding the filly “I suppose I’m not allowed to take her into the class am I?” she dejectedly stated; she knew the answer was ‘no’.

Lizzy noticed the tone and responded by kindly saying “don’t you worry dear I’ll take good care of her while you’re in your class, you can trust me I’v looked after many little tykes before” with a sympathising expression.

Cheerilee’s lips tugged upwards a little and she gave the foal over to her new friend where she lay in Lizzy’s lap gurgling with his eyes almost shut so they were little slithers, with a final look round she walked off to her classroom, room 3.

“Hello class, welcome to your third year at Ponyville School I am your new teacher; Miss Cheerilee. Please enter your new classroom and chose your seats.”

The class filed into the room and hesitantly, one by one each of the students chose their seats. Cheerilee walked in last and closed the door behind her, she scanned what would be her first ever class, they were in their third year so they were quite used to the rules of the school concerning classroom etiquette. Cheerilee realised that her pausing to scan her new class had been widely noticed and so she turned round, walked towards the main black-board and wrote her title and name for the class:

miss cheerilee

Her inner voice noting an old joke from her university days as she was writing her name “with any class a teacher spends the first two weeks of the year trying to make them socialise and talk to each other, then spends the rest of the year trying to make them shut up”. Aloud she now spoke to the class a whole.

“alright class this is how we spell my name, and I’m sure your all familiar with the customary good morning at the start of each day; which we will be starting from tomorrow.”

“I hope to be your guide and support through your next year of education and if anypony has a question at any point please do not hesitate to put your hoof up and ask.”

“Right shall we get started”. And with that Cheerilee began her first lesson. She had rehearsed it many times in her head, it was the first of ten lessons in essential pony history; this particular lesson being on Edward the mighty.

The lesson went on and although Cheerilee was in full flow with her teaching she was still having difficulties believing that the events of this morning had actually happened. A nagging thought kept on popping up in her head ‘what in equestria am I meant to name the poor foal’, sure she had some ideas for when she thought she was going to have her own children and even though she would care for this foal as if it where her own, he was very different to the kind of pony her own foals would be like and so deserved a different name. A name that suited him, perfectly.

Soon the lesson was over and all of Cheerilee’s students rushed out of the classroom to get to lunch first. Really she didn’t understand why, it’s not like those extra few seconds where going to make any difference. But students always did it never the less, she could even remember the days when she was exactly the same.

Upon entering the staff room Cheerilee was welcomed by three other teachers who all turned round with curiosity in their eyes.

The grey mare she had met before was there and standing casually next to her there was a crimson stallion with a purple mane who had his front legs crossed over. He turned his head towards Cheerilee and introduced himself as Crimson Sabba’th quickly adding:

“but the little ones call me Mr Sabba’th”

Standing in the back right corner of the room was a bright yellow mare with a orange mane making up 4 cups of mint tea who smiled in Cheerilee’s direction and introduced herself;

“good afternoon, I am Carrot Top but the fillies call be Miss Top, I teach them gardening skills. I presumed you like mint tea, do you take any sugar?”

“oh lovely I do appreciate a good cup of mint tea, aah two sugars would be perfect thank you Carrot Top” replied Cheerilee, she loved mint tea it was the one thing that she could never refuse.

“Elizabeth has been telling us all about this little filly of yours, have you any ideas as to what you are going to name her yet?” enquired Carrot Top.

“uummm well I have a few ideas…… but…… no I’m not sure on any of them yet”

"maybe we could help, like brainstorm some ideas?" offered the crimson stalion "i mean if thats okay with you"

"well any-place is a good place to start, why not" Cheerilee was first to move close to the filly and look upon her thoughtfuly, the others followed suit.

At this point a dark blue stallion, the headmaster Professor Postlewain, entered the staff room and looked towards the group of teachers huddled around the small box which he presumed contained the filly he had heard tell of.

“I have received word of your events this morning Miss Cheerilee and I would like you to take the rest of the day off to settle that poor little filly into a proper home, and start thinking of that all-important name”

Cheerilee was shocked at this order from the professor “B-B-But Professor what about my class, what about my other three lessons after lunch. I can’t just leave them…” Cheerilee replied, somewhat shocked by the concept of abandoning her new class; especially on the first day.

The professor cut her off mid-sentence, anticipating this re-action from Cheerilee “I commend your enthusiasm Cheerilee but really these are exceptional circumstances and I shall personally take over your afternoon lessons for today so you have no need to worry about your new students” Professor Postlewain reassured.

“well if your sure Professor…. Okay…… I’ll be back to normal form by tomorrow though” and at that Cheerilee carefuly set the filly into her box and wraped her in the soft blankets within, then loaded her precious cargo onto her back and started for home.