Lessons in the Dark

Chapter II

The past two months had passed in a crawl for Cheerilee. The monotonous routine of her days caused time to go by in a slow, nightmarish blur. She had not yet truly come to terms with the reality of her situation, and every night she was pondering as she stared at the ceiling from the cot in her prison cell. She touched the prisoner collar around her neck, wincing as it chafed slightly.

Cheerilee had not expected to fare well in court. She did not have the bits for a top of the line lawyer. Nor did she have conclusive evidence in her favor. Filthy Rich may not have had the latter either, but he certainly had the former. Diamond Tiara’s father had not spared in expenses to see justice done for her little girl, and had hired Slander Mane, one of the most notorious lawyers in Equestria.

The trial had been a disaster from the start for the now disgraced former teacher. Lies became terrible lies, and terrible lies became vicious lies. In the end, she had gotten the maximum sentence for the crimes that she did not commit. Cheerilee had foolishly hoped that Silver Spoon would have testified in her favor, but the filly never appeared in court. She suspected foul play on Slander’s end for that little hitch.

However, her biggest yet most brittle hope was that Diamond Tiara would speak up and end the charade, telling everyone that Cheerilee was innocent. Instead, her former student had sat pale-faced throughout the entire session of court, each answer from her mouth further dragging the former teacher to the abyss.

Life in prison was hard on Cheerilee. She did not belong there, and embarrassingly tried to plead with her jailors that she was innocent. She had cried her first night, and her second, and her third. She was the subject of ridicule to her fellow inmates for it. As days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months the pain began to dull to a throb, not as noticeable, but ever present. The joke of her sobbing had gotten old to the other prisoners, and she made it a point to draw as little attention to herself as possible.

Cheerilee ate her meals alone, feeling no desire to communicate with the other prisoners. When she was not obligated to work, she spent her days exercising in the gym or reading in the library. Anything she could do to keep her mind from her ordeal, she did. This is why the nights were the most difficult, where she was forced to lie in her cot in silence, allowing her mind to wander.

Cheerilee squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself not to burst into tears as her memories threatened to flood her mind once again. She had cried enough, it was time to come to terms with her life as it was to be for the coming years.

The next day, Cheerilee was in the library once again. She was trying to focus on a historical novel about Star Swirl the Bearded, but found herself unable to focus on the words before her eyes. Each time she passed a paragraph she couldn’t remember what she had read. She closed the book with a dull thud and buried her head in her hooves.

“One of those days?,” a voice from across the table said. It was a little raspy, tomcoltish. Cheerilee raised her head to look at the source. A white mare of roughly the same age as herself was looking at her from across the table with a raised eyebrow. She had a pair of piercing magenta eyes and a two-toned electric blue mane that was in dire need of a brush. In her hooves was a book on advanced musical theory, which fitted her cutiemark of a bridged eighth note. Cheerilee simply nodded her head in response to the question.

“You know,” the white mare continued, “I’ve seen you around for a while now. You were the one that cried for three nights. That’s a new record. I see you’ve begun to settle a bit, but you never seem to talk to anypony.”

“Why would I want to talk to anypony?,” Cheerilee asked in a gruff tone. The other mare frowned.

“Because it’s dangerous not to,” she replied, “If you don’t start to make some friends you could end up claimed. That’s bound to get you some poor company in the long run.”

Cheerilee arched an eyebrow. “Claimed?”

“You don’t know what that is? Buck, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never talked to anypony.” The white mare grinned, before continuing. “Maybe I can show you the ropes, though. Come on, let’s get out of the library so we can talk properly.”

Cheerilee felt apprehensive about going with the mare. She didn’t feel at home, and she certainly didn’t want to get involved in prison life. Getting claimed didn’t sound like a pleasant ordeal, however. She nodded, putting down her book and following her new acquaintance.

“I’m Vinyl Scratch, by the way,” the previously unknown mare introduced herself as they walked through the corridors. She stuck out her hoof for Cheerilee to shake.

“Cheerilee,” the purple mare replied, taking the hoof, “nice to meet you.”

“Don’t know about that yet,” Vinyl replied with a grin, “So, what are you in here for anyway?”

Cheerilee frowned. “I’d rather not talk about it,” she replied darkly.

“Come on, it’s the first step to trust around here.”

“Look, I do not belong here,” the former teacher snapped, “I did nothing wrong!”

Vinyl Scratch merely looked amused. “I don’t belong here either. I should be out there making music, entertaining the masses. Yet, here I am. I bucked up, you bucked up. Shit happens.”

Cheerilee rolled her eyes and groaned in response. She felt stupid for hoping the mare would believe her, or at least leave the subject alone. She was about to tell when Vinyl spoke again.

“I mean, it’s not like you’re in here for being a foalophile or something. Usually, you can tell right away. When we find them they get picked out for a solid beating. Many of the inmates here are mothers themselves, after all.” Vinyl chuckled and shook her head.

Cheerilee was mortified. Not only was she falsely accused, she was going to be beaten by the other inmates for it. Her mind was racing, and she felt droplets of sweat beginning to form on her forehead. She had to think up a convincing lie and make sure nopony found out. Vinyl had noticed the change in Cheerilee's demeanor however, and as green eyes met magenta, Cheerilee saw the disgust in the white mare’s face.

“Oh, buck me,” was the only thing Cheerilee heard before she felt a stinging pain on the left side of her face. Before she could recover, she felt a hoof roughly plant itself in her stomach as she lay on the ground, causing her to let out a choked gasp.

Vinyl spat on the purple mare as she spoke. “I should’ve known. I knew there was something off about you.”

“I didn’t do it,” Cheerilee groaned, though it came out as barely more than a hoarse wheeze.

“Shut the buck up!,” came the reply as Vinyl’s hoof once more connected with her face “Filthy piece of shit!”

“I didn’t do it,” Cheerilee said again, louder this time. All she got was a kick to her ribs, causing her to cry out in pain.

“Save it! You’re here for a reason, and I’m going to make sure the lesson sinks in!”

It was something about that last sentence that caused a surge of anger to well up in the former teacher. Her mind was filled with flashes of her previous life. Lesson. Teaching had been the joy of Cheerilee’s life, and she would never be allowed near a foal again, let alone teach them. She felt tears began to well up in her eyes as she stood up with a speed she did not know she possessed and swung her hoof towards Vinyl’s face. It connected with the white mare’s nose, causing a few droplets of blood to fly through the air. The blow knocked her prone.

“I didn’t do it!,” Cheerilee screamed as she pounced on Vinyl and started to beat away in earnest, “Everything was taken from me! Everything! Don’t you talk to me about lessons! Teaching was my life!” She was interrupted by a swift kick to her stomach. Hoarse cries and dull thuds filled the corridor as the two mares went at eachother, beating and biting until they were broken apart by a group of jailers and dragged away.

Somewhere in her mind Cheerilee was grateful for the week that she spent in isolation, and she dreaded the moment it would end. She wasn’t allowed any contact with the other inmates, left alone in her cell with her thoughts. It gave her time to think about her situation, and what she was going to do once she was let out.

There’s no way I’ll be able to defend myself forever, Cheerilee thought. Though she noticed she had gotten stronger over the past two months, it was nothing to brag about. She could handle herself in a fight against Vinyl, but that was rage-induced and against just one mare. She dreaded to think how she would fare against a group of inmates that had been doing a regime in the gym for a lot longer than she had.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the loud grind of a turning lock. She squinted against the light that was suddenly let into the dark isolation cell as the door swung open.

“Time to get out, precious,” a green jailor mare dressed in the usual guard uniform said, “you can have dinner with the others again. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

Cheerilee didn’t reply, stepping out of the cell and following the jailor to the mess hall. Just outside the door she hesitated, stopping in her tracks. Panicked thoughts began to fill her brain.

Did Vinyl tell everypony already?, Cheerilee thought, a lump of ice forming in her stomach, Was there a group of angry inmates waiting for her behind those doors?

“Move it, precious. Today, if you please,” the green mare that escorted her spoke with impatience. Cheerilee swallowed heavily, walking forward to push open the doors. She expected a sudden hush to fall over the crowd in the hall the moment she stepped inside. She expected to be stared at with fierce and hating eyes. She expected threatening gestures, and Vinyl Scratch leading a group of bulky ponies to rough her up.

None of those thoughts were correct. A few inmates that were eating near the door lazily turned their heads to look at her for a moment, before turning back to their food. Hesitantly, Cheerilee began to make her way towards the line in front of the kitchen to receive her dinner. Nopony in the entire hall gave her a second glance as she moved. She found Vinyl sitting at a table, who looked up and locked eyes with her. Cheerilee felt her pulse rise for a moment, droplets of sweat forming on her brow. Vinyl lowered her head again, without pointing out her presence to the other prisoners.

The purple mare let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, closing her eyes in relief for a moment and making her way to get her dinner. She realized she wasn’t home safe, but the fact that Vinyl had not yet told anyone about her was a good sign.

Several days had passed since Cheerilee was released from isolation, and there had been no incidents. Few ponies she ran into bothered to give her a second glance, and her cellmates had not made an attempt on her life in her sleep. She had begun to take Vinyl’s advice to heart, and opened up to her fellow inmates. She still didn’t speak much, but it was progress. She had found that her cellmates weren’t even that unpleasant.

Cheerilee hadn’t spoken to Vinyl Scratch again, though. She had run into the musical mare during laundry duty, but beyond the exchange of a simple hello they had not spoken.

Perhaps it’s for the best, Cheerilee thought as she lifted the weights attatched to her hooves. The moment she was released from isolation she had returned to her regime in the gym. She always felt better afterwards, even though the exercise no longer blocked out her thoughts.

“Looks like you have a visitor, precious,” a voice behind her spoke. Cheerilee turned around to see the green mare that picked her up from isolation. “Get a move on, don’t want to keep her waiting.”

Cheerilee’s heart soared. She finally had a visitor. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was starting to succumb to the fear that nopony would want to see her after what she had been accused of, and to hear that there was somepony here to visit her brought a big grin to her face. She dropped the weights into the racks and followed the guardpony to the booths that would allow visitors to speak to the inmates with a little spring in her step. Cheerilee picked up the telephone horn, holding it awkwardly in her hooves. She looked through the glass at the pony on the other end.

Holding the telephone in a violet aura of magic was the spitting image of Cheerilee, except that she looked older and her coat and mane were toned bright pink instead of purple. Cheerilee smiled brightly, shedding a few tears of joy.

“Mother,” the purple mare spoke hoarsely, “I’m so glad you’re here. The past few months have been awful. I was so afraid nopony would believe me. Oh mother, I’ve been so alone. I just wish I was home and none-.” Cheerilee cut herself off mid-sentence as Cinnamon Breeze lifted a hoof.

“First of all, I’d prefer you keep your excuses to yourself. Second, I am not your mother, so I would prefer you do not call me that way.” The older mare spoke with a hint of venom in her voice. Cheerilee’s smile faded.

“M-mother, what are you-,” Cheerilee began.

“I told you not to call me that,” Cinnamon Breeze cut off, “My husband and I have decided to disown you. You have brought shame and pain to the family that we have no need of.”

Cheerilee’s world began to crumble around her. She could not believe her ears. She wanted to say something, anything, but the sound was stuck in her throat.

“My mother had a heart attack after she heard what you did,” the unicorn continued, “With a growing list of sins weighing your conscience down like that, I’m surprised you can even live with yourself.”

“M-mom, momma please,” Cheerilee begged in a shaky voice, reverting back to the childhood term she had for her parent. She put her hoof against the glass, desperately looking at the pink mare on the other side.

“I am sorry, Cheerilee. You are no longer part of my family. I think I’ve been hurt enough for a lifetime.” Cinnamon Breeze’s speech grew more somber and colder with each word. She put down the telephone horn and turned to leave. Cheerilee pressed herself against the window of the booth.

“No! Momma, please! I didn’t do it! Please, come back!,” she cried, knocking on the glass.

Cinnamon Breeze was gone. Cheerilee felt a hoof on her shoulder, pulling her away from the window and guiding her back inside the prison. She hardly noticed returning to the mess hall. She felt numb, as the visit had crushed every hope that she had of ever regaining a semblance of her former life. If not even her family supported her, then who would? She could drop down and die for all she cared, as everything from her life she valued was now well and truly lost.

She had no idea how long she sat there. From the puddle that was forming on the table from her tears, she reasoned she must have for quite a while. She noticed someone sitting down close to her right, placing a hoof on her shoulder and stroking in a comforting gesture. Cheerilee looked up from the table, into a pair of familiar magenta eyes.

“Hey,” Vinyl said.

“Hey,” Cheerilee croaked in return, her voice all but gone from shouting and crying.
They sat in silence for a moment. Cheerilee didn’t know what to say, and even if she did she probably would have been unable to phrase it coherently. She began to turn her head back to the table when Vinyl spoke again.

“I believe you.”

Cheerilee turned her head back towards Vinyl with a surprised expression. “What?”

“I believe you,” came the reply, “I believed you after I had a little time to think about that hissy fit of yours during our little fight. I saw it in your eyes. You loved your life, and teaching was your passion. I know that look, because people tell me I look the same when I work on my music. You don’t belong here.”

Cheerilee swallowed for a moment, unsure whether she heard correctly. Vinyl sighed, turning her head away.

“Listen, I heard what happened. With your mom. I’d have said you were acting pathetic, but I know what it’s like.”

Cheerilee wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. “What happened?,” she asked.

Vinyl looked Cheerilee in the eye again, the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “I guess I never did get to tell you that, did I? Too eager to pummel your face. Sorry about that, by the way.”

Cheerilee nodded. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Vinyl replied, “but I’ll make it up to you. Anyway, I’m in here because I made a stupid mistake.” The musical mare frowned slightly as she began to recount her tale. “I was the owner of a big time club in Manehatten. I’m the best DJ this side of the equator, so I knew immediately that it was what I was meant to do. Business went decent at first, but after a while the expenses began to rise. The club dug into my reserves as I put every bit I had into my life’s passion.”

Cheerilee listened intently. She sniffed and cleared her throat, nodding her head for Vinyl to continue.

“I had a special somepony back then. Very special. Beautiful gray coat, brilliant amethyst eyes. And oh, did she play a mean cello.” Vinyl grinned slightly at the memory. Cheerilee arched an eyebrow.

“She?”

Vinyl simply grinned. “What, you hadn’t guessed? Anyway, I was approached by a few people who offered me a way to increase the income from my club. Cocaine.”

Cheerilee frowned slightly, but didn’t comment as Vinyl continued.

“It went well at first. There are a lot of people in night clubs that are looking for that little extra kick to make their night that much more special. The income from my club began to soar, and I was finally able to treat my marefriend to the life she deserved.

It wasn’t meant to last, though. Over time, the drugs that I began to deal in became heavier and more dangerous. I didn’t care. People bought them, and I was able to keep my club and live a life of luxury. If I had left it at that, I might have gotten away with it. In hindsight I should have stopped while I still could. Instead, I made the most stupid mistake a dealer could make. I began to use from my own stash, and got hooked.”

“You’re an addict?,” Cheerilee asked with a worried tone.

“Was an addict, thank you very much,” Vinyl replied, “these two years in prison have kept me as clean as the royal kitchen. That, and they forced me into treatment. Anyway, I was living a life of bliss. The drugs were starting to addle my brain, and I thought I could take on the world. When the police found me wandering the streets as high as Canterlot mountain, they began to grow suspicious. The investigation didn’t take long, and I was found out. I had quite the trade setup, so now I’ve been in prison for a few years, with a few more to go.”

Cheerilee nodded solemnly. “Do you regret what you did?”

“Are you kidding me?,” the DJ asked in a sad voice that seemed so uncharacteristic it almost startled Cheerilee. “Every moment of my life I regret it. A few weeks after I got in prison my marefriend came to visit. I was so happy to see her, so glad that she came to visit. She was in tears, though. She had come to tell me that she couldn’t bring herself to call me her marefriend anymore. I had lied to her, and I had committed crimes for which I’ll be in prison for a long time. She said she wanted to wait, but couldn’t bring herself. It hurt too much. She needed to forget.” By the time Vinyl was done there was a pained expression on her face and she hung her head.

Cheerilee swallowed difficultly. She hesitated for a moment, before moving closer to the white mare and embracing her. Vinyl tensed briefly, but then relaxed and wrapped her forelegs around Cheerilee in return. They sat like that for a little while, simply enjoying the comfort the other brought.

“I guess it doesn’t really get any easier, talking about it,” Cheerilee said softly in the motherly voice she had always used to soothe her students.

“Of course it gets easier,” Vinyl spoke as they broke the embrace, “but that doesn’t mean it heals completely. It always hurts to be reminded of your mistakes. I’m just hoping to win her back some day, when I get out. It won’t be easy, but I have to try.”

Cheerilee smiled slightly. “I’m envious of your optimism, Scratch. I wish I had some of that.”

Vinyl smirked slightly. “Can’t help you with that, but I can help to make things easier for you around here.” Vinyl began to look around the dining hall. Cheerilee did the same, though she wasn’t sure what she was looking for.

“Alright, the coast is clear,” the white mare spoke again, “do you trust me?”

Cheerilee thought for a moment as she regarded Vinyl. So far she could feel nothing but sincerity from the DJ, not to mention that she opened up about what she was in prison for. She recalled Vinyl telling her that was the first step of showing trust.

“Yes. I trust you,” Cheerilee said with a nod. In an instant, Vinyl leant forward and planted her lips on Cheerilee’s. The purple mare’s eyes shot open in surprise, and she opened her mouth to protest. This only resulted in Vinyl slipping her tongue into Cheerilee’s mouth, immediately seeking out hers and swirling around it in a sensual dance. The purple mare wanted to pull away, but found that her body had stopped responding to the commands from her brain. It wasn’t a romantic kiss, but it was good nonetheless.

“What the buck was-,” Cheerilee exclaimed when Vinyl finally pulled away, before being cut off by a white hoof on her mouth.

“Don’t get any ideas, Cheers. All I did was tag you. It’s how things go around here. I may not be very influential, but I do have some friends. I just significantly reduced the risk of you getting claimed by most of the nasty groups around here. I just had to make sure we weren’t seen by the guards. Fraternization is forbidden.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Cheerilee replied uncertainly, a hot blush adorning her cheeks, “I suppose claiming is a really bad thing, then?”

“It’s a sign of dominance. The big players in this prison claim people to be their playthings of sorts. This has several meanings, but for some of the weaker inmates it has meant losing their freedom twice over. There are a few big groups in this prison that you really do not want to be part of, let alone get on the bad side. They usually go for ponies that stick out and show dominance. Y'know, since they’re a threat. But once in a while they pick somepony who catches their eye. Sometimes because they’re an easy target, and sometimes because they just want to.”

Cheerilee shivered, then smiled. “In that case, thank you Vinyl. Thank you very much. Friends?”

“I think I can live with that,” Vinyl replied with her trademark grin once again plastered on her face, “I think I wouldn’t mind a kiss from time to time either. You taste nice.”