The charcoal grey mare lay unconscious in her hospital bed, bandages covering most of her head and body. An IV unit on a stand fed blood into the pony from a nearly empty bag. The room was unadorned and spacious, quiet except for the sound of soft weeping coming from the unicorn mare sitting in a chair at the bedside. The door to the room opened and a nurse came in, who immediately moved to change out the drained IV bag with a fresh one. Accompanying the nurse was a unicorn doctor who had a clipboard clutched in his magical grip.
The mare at the bedside tried to stop her crying, and managed to reduce it to a few sniffles. “How...how is she, Doc?” she asked.
“I won’t lie to you Ms. Scratch,” the doctor said. “It’s not good. She’s got a concussion, a broken cheekbone, bruising around her throat, three broken ribs and both of her rear legs are broken. I can’t even guess yet at any organ damage and that doesn’t include the...”
“Rape,” Vinyl Scratch ground out, tears halted by the ugly word. “Does anypony know how it happened, or who did this to her?”
“No,” the doctor said, quietly angry himself. “All we know is that it happened in an alley and somehow, after those...monsters left her for dead, she managed to drag herself out into the street, using only her forelegs, where a guard patrol found her. Everypony is still amazed at how she found the strength to not simply just lay down and die, in that alley.”
“I’ve watched her stand, holding that cello of hers, for hours,” Vinyl said, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. “She may not look it, but she’s one of the strongest mares I know. Give it to me straight, Doc. Is she gonna make it?”
“If she makes it through the next day or two, she should make it,” the doctor said. “But if she has any family, you might want to get them here...just in case.”
“Okay,” Vinyl said, as her entire body seemed to slump in the chair. “Did they find her cello? It would mean a lot if it could be beside her.”
“No, they haven’t,” the doctor said. “In fact, they’re pretty sure that she was attacked for it.”
“Really?” Vinyl said and her head snapped up as she said it. Octavia’s cello was a unique, valuable instrument and long ago Vinyl had put a small enchantment on it so she could find it if it ever was lost or went missing.
“Odds are it either has or is being sold to one of the shadier pawn shops in town,” the doctor said, and he put a hoof on Vinyl’s shoulder. “She’s stable for now. Why don’t you try to get some rest. We’ll let you know if there is any change.”
“Thanks doc, I think I just might,” Vinyl said, and the doctor noticed that the mare he had been talking to was now completely dry-eyed and her posture had gone from grieving to thoughtful. “Take care of her, okay?”
“Of course,” the doctor said, and he caught Vinyl’s foreleg as she got up to leave. “Ms. Scratch I’ve seen that look before.”
“What look?” Vinyl asked, slipping her trademark shades back on.
“The look of a mare who is in as much pain as her loved one,” the doctor said. “The look of a mare who intends to do something about it.”
“The ones who hurt my friend, my best friend, they’re the lowest of the low, rock bottom,” Vinyl said, looking the doctor in the eye. “I’m going to show them that things at rock bottom change the least.” The doctor nodded in understanding.
“You didn’t hear it from me,” he said, softly so the departing nurse couldn’t hear him, “but you may want to look into a local street gang calling themselves ‘The Night Wolves’.”
“Thanks Doc,” Vinyl said, slipping her foreleg out of the doctor’s grip and heading to the door.
“Ms. Scratch, one last thing,” the doctor said, and Vinyl stopped with one hoof on the door. “Don’t kill yourself doing whatever it is you intend to do. Come back alive, for her.”
“I will,” she said, and walked out the door, humming an odd tune that the doctor had never heard before.
Three days later
Shining Armor heard the tune as soon as he got onto the right floor of the hospital. Quietly he walked to the door and decided to wait until the music ended to enter, taking note of the lyrics as they could be a valuable clue.
Empty street with beads of light.
None spelled safety in her sight.
Lend me a knife,
Lend me a life,
So she can make it home tonight.
Walk through the night-side,
Walk like a beast.
Stalk like a cavepone,
Stark rock-bottom changes least.
Stalking down the silent stone,
Distance, keep me safe alone
I’ve a ready grip
On a cast-iron strip,
Sure as a club of bison bone.
Walk through the night-side,
Walk like a beast.
Stalk like a cavepone,
Stark rock-bottom changes least.
City jungle, yes, it's true.
That's what guards and robbers do.
Vengeance is free,
That's what I’ll be,
Strong enough to make it true.
Walk through the night-side,
Walk like a beast.
Stalk like a cavepone,
Stark rock-bottom changes least.
So come on, robber, rapist, crook,
Stop and take another look.
She’s still alive
I mean her to survive,
Write it down in Twilight's book.
As the song ended he knocked gently on the door. “C’mon in,” said a voice quietly from inside. Shining Armor pushed open the door and entered the hospital room. Octavia Melody lay in her hospital bed, still unconscious, but alive.
“How is she?” he asked, to the blue maned pony on the chair at the foot of the bed.
“The doc says she’s gonna make it,” Vinyl Scratch said with a tired smile.
“That’s really good to hear, Vinyl,” Shining Armor said, stepping carefully forward. “Do you know why I’m here?”
“I’m pretty sure,” Vinyl said heavily, setting the guitar down softly so it didn’t make any noise. “You found my glasses?”
“The Guard found them under the body of the leader of the Night Wolves,” Shining Armor said. “Probably fell off your head while you were garroting him with a cello string.”
“I was afraid that’s where they might have been,” Vinyl said, looking down. “Will I ever see ‘Tavi again?”
“I’d say the odds are pretty good,” Shining Armor replied, as he readied his best shield spell. “Are you going to come quietly or are we going to have problems?”
“There’s no way I’d risk her getting hurt,” the DJ said, emphatically. “So yah, I’ll come quiet. Do you need to cuff me?”
“I’m not a Royal Guard anymore,” Shining said, smiling a bit at Vinyl’s surprise. “So, I’m not arresting you, but I am taking you to meet a friend of mine by the name of Legal Note. Once I hire him for you, he’ll ask you to turn yourself in, and I’ll make sure you get there.”
“Thank you,” Vinyl said, as the pair of unicorns quietly left the room. “For both of us.”
Author's Note
So this was inspired by Walk Through The Night Side performed by Julie Ecklar and written by Leslie Fish. Every so often one of these songs just jumps out and grabs me with an idea, and the only way to clear my brain is to write it and get it out of my system.
This chapter is brought to you through the assistance of my current patrons:
Damaged
Canary in the Coal Mine
Shaushka
and my newest patron,
Airar
Thank you, very much. It really is a big help.
