Two young ponies sat in a room, the sparks flying from them being the only source of light to illuminate the darkness surrounding. Both of them were fiddling with a bundled mess of wires and mechanical parts.
The younger of the two, a grey unicorn with a greased-back black mane was pumping magic into a small device held in his hands. The device in question was a small box with a lightning rod-like antenna, glowing as the colt continued to fire his magic at it directly from his horn.
"Come on." He muttered as he sweated from the exertion. "Almost there..."
The elder, a violet unicorn mare with a purple-and-pink streaked indigo mane was sitting beside him, holding wires together with her hands and magic while watching her friend (metaphorically and literally) work his magic.
"Are you sure, Disk?" she asked, a worried expression plastered on her face. "According to the books I've read on your father's designs, these devices can't handle a ton of energy."
Disk Drive scoffed. "Are you kidding, Twilight?" he asked her. "The computers running in the Library and Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns can handle much more energy than what I'm giving. Besides, I've taken every precaution with this one. I've done every calculation three times over, I've done all the modifications I needed to do."
"That's exactly what you said about your 'Service Droid' project!" Twilight Sparkle reminded him. "And that thing nearly took your head off!"
"Hey, for the record, I never expected CL4P's laser to be used for combat." Disk shot back. "I intended it to be for kitchen and construction purposes only. Combat is when his Buzz-saw and Missile Launchers came in."
"Just focus on what you're doing, Disk." Twilight said. "I don't need to explain to your parents why their son got lobotomized from shrapnel from his latest invention."
"Again Twi, you don't need to worry." Disk said. "Everything to prevent anything has already been done. Nothing bad could possibly happen. What could possibly go-"
The machine in Disk's hands suddenly exploded violently, plastic pieces of it's casing flying in every direction in a brilliant flash of light. Out of instinct, Twilight put up a small field around her body, catching most of the pieces heading her direction. Disk, however, was not as lucky. The heated shards cut through his flesh like a hot knife through butter, piercing his hands, arms, head and face. He collapsed, unconscious, and a crimson liquid started oozing from his wounds.
Twilight gasped. "DISK!" she cried. She ran to the door, only for it to open in front of her, revealing five older unicorns.
"Twilight?" asked one of them, a blue pony with a matching blue mane; as he grabbed her by her shoulders. "What happened? We heard something coming from over here."
"Daddy!" she cried, wrapping her arms around her father. "He was working on one of his inventions, and the thing he was holding exploded! Disk's bleeding and won't get up!"
"Velvet, get some bandages." Night Light ordered. "Floppy, Soprano; try to wake your son up. Shining, run as fast as you can to the hospital and book us a room. I have a feeling we're going to need it."
Disk's eyes fluttered open, instantly blinding him with a bright light. He attempted to raise his arm to block the offending light out, but hissed as pain shot though his body from the small movement. As his vision began to adjust to the light, he noticed half of it seemed to be... off. He couldn't see anything out of it, at all. He raised his other arm in an attempt to remove whatever was blocking his eye, but hissed again as it stung painfully.
"Disk! Thank Celestia you're awake!" came a familiar voice beside him. He turned, albeit with minor pain, to see the forms of two ponies sitting beside him. Apparently he was lying down on a raised surface.
"Mom? Dad?" he asked. "Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital, sweetie." Soprano Sonnet's melodic voice cooed. "You were very badly hurt. Twilight's brother managed to book you a room when we found out."
"What happened, son?" asked Floppy Disk. "Twilight was too shaken up to give us full details."
Disk grunted as he slowly sat upright. "Twilight and I were working on a new computer system." he said. "I was charging device that would broadcast the signal I needed, but it exploded." He stuffed his face in his palms. "I don't understand, I took every precaution, made every calculation several times over. What went wrong?"
"You might've not been focusing." Soprano theorized. "Magic can get very unstable without proper concentration, especially for younger; less experienced ponies. Were you completely focused on what you were doing?"
"I think I was." Disk said. "I was talking with Twilight, though. She was worried something like this would happen. I kept telling her to stop worrying her."
"You got overconfident." Floppy said. "You might have sent an extra powerful charge into the signal router while defending yourself."
"Well, I'll remember not to get cocky next time." Disk said. He looked at his parent's faces, both of which had unsure expressions. "What's wrong?"
"Son, there isn't going to be a next time." Floppy Disk said.
"What?" Disk asked. "What are you talking about?"
"The shrapnel was super-heated." Soprano said. "It cut through your hands and arms, tore the muscle tissue completely apart. They're never going to fully heal."
"OK, so I'll just use my Magic until my arms recover enough to get back to work, then?" he tried.
"It also did minor damage to your head." Floppy said. "A piece of shrapnel got stuck in the part of your brain that allows you to channel magic through your horn. If the initial tear didn't already cut it off, the heat from the plastic burned it to a crisp. The doctors say that you'd be lucky to be able to walk and talk, let alone channel magic."
"My magic's gone?" Disk asked plainly.
"I know it's a lot to take in, honey." Soprano reassured him. "But I'm sure we can make it through this togeth-"
"No, mother. It's fine." Disk said. "Can I have a few minutes to think?"
"Of course, son." Floppy said. "We'll give you some time to clear your head and think about your future now."
"Yes, think of my future." Disk echoed. As his parents left, he laid down on his hospital bed and muttered under his breath. "And thank her for ruining it."
