All I could feel was pain. My back burned as if it was on fire, but the rest of my body was numb. I couldn't feel my hooves, my chest, my hair...none of it. All I could feel was my back, which felt like it was ripping itself apart.
I tried to stand up, but I couldn't. I felt myself losing consciousness. I could hear voices, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. It was just a mess of noises, mixing together like one of those songs where the singers speak so fast you can't understand a word they're saying.
My vision was blurred, but I could easily make out several ponies, lying around me. Some were standing up, usually injured greatly. Others weren't moving even slightly, and it didn't take a genius to realize why.
Just inches from me, though, was the first thing that changed my life forever.
A pony lay, her eyes closed and half of her body bleeding. Her cutie mark was obscured by blood, and one of her back legs had been completely torn off. Her mane was literally on fire from the wreckage, her tail was burned almost completely off, and her fur was blackened to the point you could barely even guess what colour it had been before.
I still recognized her.
Mom! I tried to scream, but my voice caught in my throat. I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. All of a sudden, I felt somepony pick me up with unicorn magic.
"You okay, kid?" a gruff voice asked. I recognized his voice. It was my uncle. He had been sitting just a couple seats away on the train.
I coughed and nodded, now able to move somewhat since I had been put back on my four hooves. I blinked away the blurriness that blocked my vision and looked around some more. My uncle looked worried and tried to help, but I waved him away with one of my hooves.
"I'm fine," I choked out, finally managing to speak. "What happened?"
My uncle opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by a loud scream. My hearing instantly returned to normal, and began registering what was happening.
All around us, there was chaos. Ponies were running, staggering, and dying. The remains of the train were burning, leaving very few ways out. Even if we managed to get out, we'd just have to contend with a giant desert.
Looking around, I saw some ponies trying to stand up to a group of buffalo. Those buffalo...they rammed our train...they knocked it over... I shook my head to get back to reality. I turned to my uncle, only to find that he had run after one of the buffalo, his horn flaring with magic. I groaned. He was always charging off into danger, but at least he always came out alright.
Just as I finished that thought, one of the buffalo rammed him against a burning wall, snapping all of his bones in half and setting his body on fire.
No! I ran forward, not even thinking. Somehow, the buffalo didn't see me, instead chasing after a pegasus pony who was trying to fly away. I ran to my uncle, only to realize I couldn't do anything. He wasn't alive anymore. That was the second thing that changed my life forever.
Tears springing to my eyes, I tried to fight them back. I need to be strong, like dad always told me! I need to get out of here! My eyes suddenly shot wide open. Dad! I began running around, looking for my father. I knew my mother and uncle were dead, but there was still a chance my dad was alive.
"Junior!"
Whipping my head around, I saw my dad running over to me. He looked like he had just come out of a battle. And knowing him, he probably had, taking on the buffalo as soon as they posed a threat.
"We need to get out of here, junior!" he ordered. I looked around at the anarchy. "I know you don't want to leave everything like this, but we have no choice! If the two of us aren't the only ponies still alive, then we're among the final seven! We need to go!"
I sighed in disappointment. I never liked leaving others like this, but I didn't really have a choice. "Dad...mom is-"
"I know." He looked away. "I saw it happen. Same with your uncle. But there's still hope for us. We need to go now."
I gulped. "Alright, dad."
He nodded approvingly and spread his wings. "We'll need to be fast so they don't chase us down."
I nodded back and tried to spread my wings...only for the burning pain in my back to start again. I cried and fell to the ground. I heard my dad gasp and say something about my wings, but I couldn't hear properly. It was just like when I woke up a few minutes ago after the crash.
I heard a sudden loud thump to my left, and when I looked over I saw my dad fighting off a giant buffalo. It must have heard me when I screamed... I tried to stand up, somehow managing it without anypony's help. Just as I stood up, my dad bucked the buffalo in the jaw and shoved it to the ground.
"Run, junior!" my dad yelled at me. I didn't even think. I just turned and ran, heading straight for the only remaining exit from this fiery trap. I didn't try flying. All I knew was that something was wrong with my wings, so it would be better just to run.
Sweat poured down my face, blocking my vision. I shut my eyes to keep sweat from getting into them. I continued running until the sounds of fire and fighting quieted significantly. I stopped running and opened my eyes, looking around.
I was in the desert, far away from the trainwreck. No buffalo were near me, so I was safe. I collapsed to the ground to rest, but was only able to lie there for a few minutes before I heard somepony step in front of me.
Looking up, I saw my father. He had something – no, somethings – in his mouth. My eyes bulged when I saw them as he lay them in front of me. They were covered in feathers and blood, and one end of each of them looked like they had been ripped out of something. They were the third thing that changed my life forever.
They were my wings. Now I knew why my back hurt so much and why I couldn't fly away. My wings had been torn out. My dad looked at me in concern as I just stared at my wings like they held the answers to the universe.
Then I passed out.
When I came to, everything felt different. I wasn't breathing smoke-filled air, but rather clean oxygen. The temperature wasn't scorching hot, but instead refreshingly cool. I felt less pain in my back and more numbness.
I blinked my eyes open and saw my dad standing over me. He looked a little better than before. He had bandages covering up any major injuries, and his mane and tail had been straightened slightly. I must have been out for a while.
I tried to sit up, but my back suddenly began screaming in pain, so I had to lie back down. My dad closed his eyes in thought and sighed.
"You've been out for a couple of days now," he told me. "I was wondering if you'd ever wake up. Fortunately, we managed to get to Ponyville and take you to the hospital."
I tried to look over my shoulder at my back. I didn't have much success.
"The doctors reattached your wings, but they don't know if they'll ever work properly again. I'm sorry, junior." He sat down, and I suddenly began feeling very tired. "You should get some rest. You've been through a lot."
I nodded weakly, and my eyes slowly closed.
"...and that's it," I finished. I tried to fight back the tears crawling to my eyes at the memories, but they still forced their way through. I heard one of the ponies start applauding, followed by another, and another...soon they were all clapping.
"That's...quite a story," I heard a familiar voice say from my right. "I was never expecting something like that when I gave you this assignment..."
"You asked for us to tell you an important event in our life," I told her. "That was probably the most important thing to ever happen to me...even if it's not a happy story."
"I can see why." Miss Cheerilee nodded, her eyes closing in thought. "You may go sit down now, Scootaloo. Who wants to go next?"
When I got home, I dragged my backpack saddlebags to my room and dropped them on the floor. I flopped onto my bed and buried my face in my pillows.
"Junior?" I turned my head and saw my dad standing in the doorway. He was looking worried. "Are you okay?"
I explained to him what happened in school, and he frowned. "I know you told me not to tell anypony, dad...but I really needed to just get it off my chest. It's been bugging me for years..."
"It's fine, junior," he assured me. "I'm not mad." There was silence for a few moments, then he spoke up a bit. "By the way, there's somepony here to see you."
I looked up in confusion. I didn't have any friends. Why was somepony looking for me? Getting off my bed, I followed my dad downstairs to the front door. Standing in the doorway was a young white unicorn filly, about my age, with pink and purple curly hair.
"Hi," she greeted me. "I just wanted to say...I really liked your story."
"Oh...um, thanks?" I tilted my head, a little confused.
"I'm sorry about what happened to you and your family," she added, looking a little downcast. She held out her hoof. "My name's Sweetie Belle. Do you want to be friends?"
That was the fourth thing that changed my life forever.
