//------------------------------// // Not Ruined- Broken // Story: A Life Rebuilt // by Epicburst //------------------------------// A Life Rebuilt Chapter 1: Losing Everything Twilight sighed contently as she delicately dabbed the quill exactly three and a half millimeters from the end of her sentence. It was perfect. Precise, but not too precise; direct, but not forceful. She smiled as she finally placed the period the perfect distance away in her report to Princess Celestia. The last thing she would want is for the Princess to feel like she was being commanded to stop reading, how would that make her feel? Twilight carefully rolled up her scroll along with fifteen pages of research notes showing how ponies can affect a higher plain that historians have called the æther. Sighing, she gathered up all of her notes and placed them on the corner of her desk. Before she could get started on her next project, her stomach growled loudly. Reminding her of the sad reality that she definitely not one of Daedalus’ masterful automaton, she remembered how Spike would have brought her something to eat by now if he weren’t too busy asserting his Dragon Code. Sighing, Twilight went into the kitchen to find something she could eat without burning it down. Content with just an apple, she trekked to the basement to check on how her solutions were doing. As she was taking measurements, an urgent knocking on the door caught her attention. Dropping her vials and ignoring the prismatic explosions, she rushed up the stairs. The pounding at the door got louder and more urgent, and she was surprised to see that when she yanked open the door she saw Apple Bloom on her forelegs about to deliver another buck. “Apple Bloom!” Twilight yelled, breaking the filly’s concentration. “What’s wrong?” Apple Bloom turned around and said . . . something. Her country accent mixed with this kind of urgency left whatever she was saying unintelligible. Shaking her head, she put a hoof to the filly’s mouth to interrupt a barrage of . . . whatever language she was speaking. “Speak . . . slowly.” Twilight rolled her eyes as the filly took an excessively large breath. “Twilight! Applejack, Spike, and the Crusaders were hiking andthenadragonattackedusbutSpikepushedApplejackoutofthewayandwasgrabbedbythedragon!” The filly panted and then continued. “ThedragongrabbedhiminatalonanddroppedhimintotheGastlyGorge!” Twilight stared at the energetic filly blankly. What the hay was she going on about? What was so hard about speaking clearly when you talk to other ponies? Did she take lessons from Pinkie Pie? She jumped as Apple Bloom pulled her head down to eye level and begun shouting at her. “Spike’s hurt in Ghastly Gorge! Nopony can get to him! He needs help!” The sight by the gorge was disturbing to say the least. A crowd of ponies were gathered around the edge of the gorge, as Twilight got closer, she noticed multiple quarray eels were lurking all over the bottom of the gorge. “Twilight!” The unicorn turned towards Rainbow Dash. “I came as soon as I heard! We don’t know for sure, but I think he may be under those rocks.” Twilight nodded as Rainbow Dash continued briefing her. “I can lead those eels away, but moving all those rocks is going to be the hard part.” Twilight nodded once more. One way or another, she was going to get him out of there. Rainbow Dash enjoyed antagonizing the eels way too much for Twilight’s taste. The rainbow streak weaved and danced in between the monsters. The amount of precision it would take for the Pegasus to maintain contact with them and lead them in the direction she wanted them to go must be astronomical. Within moments every eel was trying desperately in order to catch an afternoon snack. Soon, everypony in ponyville was down amongst the rocks, trying to search for any sign of the baby dragon. It didn’t help moral though when, an hour in, they found a pool of blood. Many ponies then, to Twilight’s despair, had more important things to do than unearth the dead body of a baby dragon. Moving the rocks, needless to say, was a lot more than an ordeal. One by one ponies left exhausted. Fluttershy was one of the few who were too exhausted to do anything other than lay on the cold ground. Twilight began getting more desperate, and even more so when Rainbow Dash trudged back too exhausted to even tuck in her wings. Twilight strained as every rock began to get larger and larger, each one bigger than the poor baby dragon trapped underneath. After a few more, she finally managed to unearth the one family member she cared for the most. Jagged pieces of stone lay imbedded in the dragon’s stomach. Scales all over his body were either cracked, broken, or just simply torn off his body, revealing sensitive flesh that was submerged in his life ichor. “Sweet Celestia . . .” Twilight cursed under her breath as she saw the child’s arm. Amongst what looked like shattered glass, lied a writhing sack of flesh. She couldn't recognize it, but deep inside she could feel that Spike was begging her to do something with him . . . anything to end his pain. The worst part was his scales. Each one dug viciously into his body from every direction, ripping him apart from the inside and allowing even more of his life to escaping. ‘He is alive.’ Twilight said to herself as she stared at her dying friend. ‘He is still bleeding, his heart is beating, so pick him up and get out.’ She autonomously executed the command. Wrapping him delicately in her magic, she lifted up his cor- his body. Immediately blood spilled out of his mouth. “Don’t you start Spike!” She scolded. “You listen to me right now! You are going to make it to the hospital, and you will get better.” She smiled as his mouth closed wearily. With barely more than a thought, they were at the hospital. Well, there was one thought . . . What happened? “Twilight,” Applejack sat next to the tear-stained mare outside the operating room. “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have let him come on the pie delivery with us! If- I should’ve been the one tossed into the gorge, not Spike!” Applejack continued to sob into Twilight’s shoulder. To the orange mare’s comfort, she didn’t seem angry at all. “Nopony could have expected that dragon to appear, and it’s thanks to his fast acting that you’re okay!” Twilight patted Applejack on the back. “He wouldn’t forgive himself if something happened to you that he could have prevented.” Applejack nodded solemnly. “You have much more responsibility then he does, hay, the farm wouldn’t be able to run without you! Spike wouldn’t want it any other way, I promise you.” The farm mare pulled herself together. Hours staggered past. The deafening silence stretched for what seemed like an eternity, only to be shattered by a surgeon. “Miss Sparkle?” The namesake snapped to attention, leaving her dreamlike state far behind. “Y-yes?” The surgeon pulled off his blue cap and sighed wearily. “We are making some progress, but it's slow going and we are experiencing some complications.” Twilight gasped as the surgeon continued. “Spike’s scales have not completely hardened, so the mature dragon’s claws dug through portions of his body easily, causing excessive bleeding multiple areas around his body. Most of the scales on his body have been destroyed. This leads us to a situation with the scales that are embedded in his body. They have caused excessive muscle damage and blood loss. Upon trying to remove some of the larger scales, we discovered that they have snagged themselves on tissues that will leave him with virtually no control of his left arm. In order to save him from farther trauma, we need to amputate quickly. Then there is his tail. All that's left of it is a stub." Amputate? “I . . . don’t understand.” Twilight fell back on her rump, her friends snapping awake at the sudden outburst. How could he get amputated? There’s so much left for him to do! Wait, what got amputated? An leg? He . . . he could still wheel around! A-an arm? He could still . . . read or maybe even . . . help Rarity? No matter what the scenario was, she couldn’t see a happy outcome. “There has to be a mistake! H- he’s just a child! Why would you do this to him?” Twilight jumped as Applejack’s hoof wrapped around her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. “I’m sorry Miss Sparkle, any delay in action may have cost him his life.” Twilight stayed in the hospital, even after everypony else left to go take care of . . . whatever it was they had to take care of, she didn’t care. What was going to happen now that Spike was . . . incapacitated? He couldn't read with one claw, and with his injuries he would be stuck in here for . . . Celestia knows how long. It's not fair! How in Tartarus can a dragon not have scales?. Maybe she should talk to Princess Celestia about this? How was Spike going to take this? How could he help Rarity, or take letters, or lick his toes? For days Twilight waited for the results. Every morning she sat in a chair, studying everything she could about physical disabilities. Every afternoon she moved to the floor. Just lying there, trying to figure out how she would feel if she was in Spike's position. Every night she would crawl her way onto one of the hospital couches. Applejack came around now and again and give her an apple or two. Fluttershy would come over and treat her to a sponge bath. She was a bit embarrassed about it, but it didn't stop her anyway. Three days. It took three days in order to get word of Spike. As soon as they said he was in recovery, she rushed directly to room 147. She had to talk to him. She had to know that he was alright. He was walking. A warm breeze brushed against his cheek, and long grass tickled his toes. He could feel himself moving . . . talking. Two objects were next to him, yet they were different. They didn’t walk on their hind legs, nor did they have claws either. They looked squishy, and he found himself wondering how easy it would be for them to get hurt. Whatever they were doing, it seemed like they were enjoying themselves. For some reason, he felt bad. He did something that he shouldn’t have done, but he couldn’t remember. To his left was a larger one. It was pulling something that looked pretty important. To his right was a smaller one that was buzzing about energetically. From what he could tell, it looked like she was having fun. The calm air changed as they approached a ledge. Looking over was dizzying. Nothing but sharp rocks and even weirder creatures. Clearing his head, he backed away carefully, fearing that even the wind could blow him in. The calm summer breeze was shattered when an ear splitting roar tore through the sky. Before he knew it, the midday sun was being blocked out by a large creature flying towards them. The larger pony unhitched herself from her cart and turned to them. She shouted something, but he didn’t hear her. The large creature was approaching her rapidly. Its claws extending to skewer its target. She wouldn’t even see it coming. Without thinking, the young dragon practically through the orange mare aside. It was the least he could do after all the problems he caused her. He got her out of the way just in time for him to be picked up by the larger, angrier, bloodthirsty dragon. Right away he knew something was wrong. Something – everything moved in a way it wasn’t supposed to. Talons tore through his scales like they were paper. Without thinking, Spike bit the claw that held him firmly in the dragon’s grip. A growl shook the sky and he went weightless. Spike gasped as his body slammed against the gorge wall snapping even more things in his body. The last thing he wondered was if standing was the best way to greet the ground rushing towards him so rapidly . . . Twilight didn't understand what she was looking at for the longest time. She just stared at the sensitive, pink sack of meat. A part of her didn’t even know what she was looking at. Most of his scales were just . . . gone, like a sheered lamb. It saddened her to think that if she didn’t know any better, she could swear that this was not Spike. He looked so . . . sensitive. The baby dragon was sweating and fidgeting underneath the blanket. Curiously, she lifted the blanket off of him. Everything looked so raw. The blankets that she raised off of him were nothing but thing more than thin fitted sheets, leaving deep welts on his body. As soon as they were off of him, his hitched, strangled breathing became shallow. The EKG slowed significantly and he looked remotely comfortable for once. She couldn't ignore the fact that his hide was red, so thin that she could see his vessels. "Oh Spike . . ." The mare whimpered as a tear rolled down her cheek and onto his forehead. “Twi-” A painfully rough voice emanated from the small body. The dragon looked towards his long lost friend. Her amethyst eyes gazed at him, the gem’s true beauty only marred by the look of overwhelming concern that etched them. He smiled as a gentle hoof brushed his cheek. Spike noticed how it felt warmer and itchier than he remembered. “Hi Spike,” She whispered, setting the blanket down on the floor. “how are you feeling?” Spike sighed. “Like an idiot.” He groaned, his body still sore. “Where’s Applejack? Is she okay?” Twilight nodded. “Thanks to you she is.” Twilight smiled proudly at her friend. “Do you remember what happened Spike?” Spike rubbed his head . . . or at least he tried to anyway. Twilight saw his left stub move, but he became confused as he didn’t feel anything. Curious, he looked over his body for the first time to see absolutely nothing. He turned to where he expected to find his arm, and all that was left was a small stub. The stub wasn’t carrying remaining scales like he first perceived it to be – it was covered in terrible, raw looking flesh- and immediately screamed. “W-what’s wrong with me!” He screamed, the tight skin making it difficult for him to pry his jaw open. “Spike,” Twilight cooed motherly. “you were so brave to save Applejack like you did, and you are so strong.” She scooped him up in a gentle embrace. “You’re hurt Spike, very badly, and it will be a while before you get better.” Spike sniffled. “I’ll always be there for you, remember that.” “Applejack . . . can I see her?” Spike looked up at Twilight, silently begging her to accept his request against her better judgment of forcing him to rest. Twilight sighed compassionately. “Dragon Code?” He nodded. Twilight left to fulfill his request, leaving Spike to get used to his new body. He squeezed his right claw, at first carefully, but began to realize that it required quite a lot of effort. He winced when he finally was able to close his claw all the way, the scarred skin pulling tightly against what was left of his torn muscle. The dragon tried to shift his body in different ways, some of them were difficult, while others were just impossible. While he was still experimenting, a doctor entered the room. The conversation was weirder than he thought it would be. The doctor explained to him what had happened. He had no more scales. Most of them were shredded apart when the dragon grabbed him in its talons. Sadly, it wasn’t only his scales that he lost. His arm was torn apart by a claw as well, and his tail fell victim to the rocks. This was absolutely insane! How in Tartarus would he be able to help Twilight? What about Rarity? He would need to learn how to walk on fours now that he couldn’t counterbalance with his tail- Walking! How could he walk on all fours if he only had three legs! The rest of the doctor’s summary fell on deaf ears. The young dragon is lost in thought. All of which are along the same line: My life as a useful assistant is over.