Chapter Zero: How it started
The hulking red and black minotaur, Lord Tirek, towers above Twilight brimming with magical energy. “You’re going to give me what I want.” His gravelly voice echoes with power. It is not a question or a request. It is a demand. Twilight backs away on instinct, fear and awe fighting for the forefront of her mind.
Tirek's horns glow as he opens his maw wide, posed to take from her the magic she had been trusted to protect. Twilight, in a split second decision, teleports to the top of the Golden Oaks Library. Using the telescope once dedicated to stargazing, she tries to find him again. But as she spots him she realizes all too late that he already knows where she went. As Tirek stares her down from the edge of Ponyville, the stolen magic between his black, sparking horns grows and pulses, releasing a spear of arcane energy directly at her.
Twilight barely manages to escape with Owlowicious in her hooves before the tree that had been her home explodes into a shower of flaming wood and charred books. Releasing her feathered assistant, Twilight stands. The fear and awe were gone, and in their place grew something new. Righteous fury, backed by the might of all Equestia’s alicorn magic. Taking to the skies, Twilight charges her horn with more energy than she had ever used for any spell, and brought its full strength to bare as a beam of multicolored light aimed at the beast that had already taken so much from her home, from her friends.
Manehattan Times front page story today continues the tale of rebuilding and recovering efforts of Ponyville in the wake of the battle between Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle and Ex-Lord Tirek. The official report of damages has finally been released to the public nearly two weeks after Equestria’s latest crisis. The report, written by the mayor of the small town, claims that although most of the destruction took place outside the town’s borders, the extraordinary amount of magic sent shockwaves strong enough to shatter windows and topple shelves. In addition to the general damage, two buildings were completely demolished during the first few minutes before Princess Twilight was able to move the battle away from the town. The report goes on to list the number of casualties, twelve minor injuries, one major injury, and one death. Although the ponies affected have not yet been named to respect their anonymity, we at the ManeTimes assure our loyal readers that our staff will be sure to forward whatever information that becomes available to you all as soon as possible. (more details on the Ponyville mayor’s report on page 3)
Vinyl stared blankly at the newspaper in her lap, sight blurred from countless tears, having already re-read it at least a dozen times, willing the words to change. But they staunchly refused, remaining just where they have been since she worked up the courage to read it the first time nearly an hour ago.
Why? Why did it have to be us?
Vinyl looked back to the stark white ceiling held up by equally white walls, the same ones she’s been held hostage by for what felt like months. In truth she had only woken up in the small hospital room two days ago, but as anypony who’s needed surgery would tell you, time bound to a hospital bed is always painfully slow.
Please... Please be a nightmare...
The thought repeats like a broken record in her mind as she closes her uncovered eye, and slowly lowers her head. But when she opens her eye and gazes at those still unchanged words, another thought breaks through her silent pleas.
Princess Luna should have appeared by now if it was a nightmare.
The realization causes something to snap, and in an instant, the fear, hope, and despair are replaced by blind rage. The newspaper and its damn words hit the only window in the room, launched by a white hoof, a shriek of pained anger eclipsing the thud of the impact.
Moments later, the sound of hoofsteps can be barely heard over the ragged sobs as they approach the door. Then a gentle knocking and a cautious question in a young mare’s voice “Miss Scratch? Are you alright in there?”
“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK!?” came the enraged yet hoarse response.
Silence, then a reluctant “Alright.. If you need any assis-” “JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” though shaky and cracked, the yell gave no room for question or argument. As the hoofsteps retreated once more, and the sobbing returned.
As the horizon through the window shifted to a dark orange, the white mare lay motionless beneath the sheets. Awake yet completely exhausted, Vinyl stared at nothing. She had no more tears, no more energy to cry or scream.
This is real... How can this be real? I can feel them but they aren't there...
Shifting as well as she could, she looked to her hooves.. Or rather to where they should be, where she could feel them, and saw... Bandages far too small, covering stumps that shouldn't be. Her left legs, both rear and front; gone, down to her shoulder and flank. Her right hind leg cut off at the knee. Only her right foreleg remained intact, raising to the bandages wrapped around her head, to where her left eye should be, then up to the lump in the center of her forehead, jerking away at the stab of pain running along what is left of her horn.
Why.. why am I still alive? The last thought as a dreamless sleep claims her.
Author's Note
Howdy howdy everypony, and welcome to my shitshow.
Hope its not too obvious that this is my first attempt writing anything more than a hasty concept, but this has been bumping around in my head for a long while now so I figured I'd give it a solid try for once. If you saw any errors or have any constructive criticism, please leave a comment. Thanks and buckle up chuckle fucks, cause its gonna be a bumpy ride.
Vinyl Scratch stared at that same wall that has been the most consistent backdrop to her life for the past few weeks. She was only partially aware of the gray coated unicorn stallion sitting on the chair to the side of her bed, who was shuffling some papers with his magic. She’d noticed him come in, of course, but wasn’t exactly feeling all that conversational at the moment thanks to her most recent physical therapy session. She could tell by his well kept dark green mane and black suit jacket that he was a businesspony, which wasn’t particularly helping her interest in talking to him, or lack thereof.
Vinyl wasn't fond of stereotypes, but being a DJ in the electronic wave of what became known most of canterlot as a Musical Revolution, she had dealt with more suit wearing lawyers and corporate goons than she could count. Very few had been pleasant to talk to, much less do business with, and judging by the briefcase full of papers in the seat next to him, he wouldn’t be leaving soon. Well.. it's not like I’ve got anything else to do..
“So,” Vinyl began, making no effort to hide disinterest in her voice “who are you then?”
“Ah, good, I was just about ready to start,” the stallion says, looking up with a friendly smile, “My name is Emerald Scroll. I was going to introduce myself sooner, but you seemed lost in thought. I’m here on behalf of the CDDR, the Crown Department of Disaster Relief, to help you sort out some things after what happened. Normally, we try to contact affected ponies sooner than this, but yours proved to be a special case.”
Vinyl felt a bitter chuckle in the back of her mind that didn’t quite reach her lips. Yeah, I got a lot to ‘sort out’ “What kind of things? I doubt you’ve got a new set of legs in that briefcase of yours.” she said with only a hint of sarcasm.
Emerald Scroll’s smile faltered slightly at that, his eyes flicking to where her hind legs used to be for just a moment. After a short pause, “Ah, unfortunately not.. Things like finances and your living situation are what I can help with though,” He pulled a few papers out of a folder before continuing, “As I mentioned, your situation is a bit different from what we usually work with. Standard procedure for an event like this would be to reach out to your emergency contacts, or, failing that, next of kin for temporary residence. Your file only had one name listed...” He trailed off as his smile completely disappeared and his gaze fell to the floor. “I’m... I’m sorry for your loss...”
Vinyl felt the fur of her cheek starting to get wet. Oh... crying again... She brought her forhoof up to wipe her face.“Yeah, Me too,” came, barely a whisper. Before the silence could become too heavy, she cleared her throat and sniffed once, wanting to move on “Well, what does that mean then?”
The stallion looked back up from the floor to his papers, taking a breath and focusing on the matter at hoof. “Right, for at least the short term, we’ve worked out a proposal for you to consider. An apartment has been secured in the city here, so you have somewhere to go when the doctors deem you fit to leave, and an assisted living caregiver will be assigned to help you as a sort of live-in maid. All costs will of course be fielded by the crown, and there are a number of candidates to choose from for the caregiver.” A folder is set on the edge of the bed, as another is lifted by green magic from the briefcase. “As for your financial situation, standard procedure again falls a bit short of your unique case. The crown will be covering your immediate medical costs and any subsequent medical issues that might arise from the Tirek Incident as well as compensation for what property damage is not covered by typical insurance. Normally that would be followed by a monthly stipend until a full recovery is made and you are able to return to employment..” He trails off again, eyes moving to the obvious problem.
Vinyl follows his shifting gaze, waiting for him to continue. After a few moments of waiting she clears her throat to get his attention. “*ehem*...Yeah, that might be a problem.”
Emerald’s eyes snap up to Vinyl’s face and then to back to his papers to avoid her annoyed leering, an embarrassed expression on his muzzle. He coughs into his hoof before speaking again, “Right, yes, well as such a time to recovery would be.. Indeterminable, we had to hash out an alternative timeline of about two years, after which another representative will contact you to reevaluate the situation.” Another folder joined the one sitting on the bed as the stallion looked up once more. “For now, that’s all I have to give you. I’ll give you a few days to decide which of the caregivers you’d like to go with and to sign the various forms there so we can get the paperwork squared away. Did you have any questions?”
Vinyl opened her mouth- Is that it? What am I supposed to do now? What about my house? My legs? My eye? My bucking horn?! ...Tavi... -to let out a defeated sigh and said “None you could answer.”
Green magic closed the briefcase as the stallion’s horn glowed the same hue “..Alright, I’ll see you in a few days then” he said as he stands up and walks to the door. As his hoof rests on the handle, he glances back to the clearly dejected white unicorn staring at her only hoof resting on the folders he’d left on her bed and hesitated. “Miss Scratch.. In my work, I’ve seen a lot of ponies at their worst. Time and again I see ponies who look lost, who believe their life is over... I know the words of some stranger don’t mean much to you right now, but I promise, it gets better.” He turned back to the door and pulled it open.
As he stepped into the hall, Vinyl spoke just loud enough to hear “Thank you.. I hope you’re right..” She didn’t look up, staring at the papers that supposedly held the next two years of her life, whatever that may be. I really hope you’re right. I don’t know what I’ll do if you’re wrong. I don’t want to know.
