A New Moon Is Rising

by Jinxed

In Darkness

Her eyes slowly opened. She coughed violently.

Her breath came in choked gasps of shock as she tried almost immediately upon reflex to pull herself up into a sitting position, the ash coating her falling almost like grey sand. Then her scream was instant, the pain erupted so fast within her that her vision swam and closely threatened to make her faint. She kicked her legs out involuntarily as the agony played through her, panic blossomed in her mind and ran freely for several minutes, until eventually her logical side seized hold of her frantic thoughts, forcing her to calm down and make sense of the situation she was in. The seconds ticked by as she gently laid back, taking a few small reassuring breaths even if her chest suffered horribly from the action. Again, she struggled much in vain to right herself. With the pain from her torso overwhelming her, and her legs burning as if they were on fire, she stopped trying, waiting until all the hurt faded at least a little more.

What in the name of Celestia had happened?

Her side was hurting to the greatest extent, so she carefully looked to that part of herself first, unfortunately it was much too dark for her to see anything clearly, but her clothing felt almost damp around the area that hurt, so she knew she was injured, the question was just how bad was it. Her hands feebly examined the area through the pain of doing so to check for damage, and Twilight let loose a whimper as she realised something long was jutting from her left side, touching the offending object caused deep painful aches. It was warm and wet where it pierced her body, so she was certain the wound was still bleeding. Trying to contain her resolve as best could manage, she pulled her bloody fingers away, and she made to check her legs next, as one of them extensively burned with pain more than the other.

She did succeed with a cry, to shift herself upwards despite the daunting injury, cursing the situation of lighting while waiting for the agony to calm again, she really needed to see how bad things were. Her eyes gradually adjusted to the gloomy scene however, and she indeed saw something else was sticking out from her left calf. Feeling around the limb, she found it was not just poking out, but quite alarmingly pierced right through the soft muscle of her leg, and it too was still bleeding. At least she knew that was the major cause for not being able to stand upright.

Other than these two grievous wounds, she was littered with small cuts and scrapes along her lithe frame, she could feel the pulsing twinge that emanated from each little affliction. Her brain was going into overdrive with questions, telling her she needed to fix this before she lost too much blood. Her brain also told her she needed to find out what was going on and why she was now injured in such a manner, this was definitely from an explosion of some sort, and she couldn't remember how this had happened, she was just in her library one minute... and then nothing, she awoke like this.

Twilight mentally told her brain to shut the fuck up, silencing all her worries so she could concentrate.

I need to get up.

The sooner she could get up and move, the sooner she could find out what was happening. It really didn't help that she couldn't see her surroundings, and she needed to. This was further enforced as her ears twitched atop her head upon hearing an object crash into the ground far behind her, yet she wasn't able to turn due to her injuries to see what it was.

But at least she had her first task: Find a light source.

Her horn gently pulsed, lighting up very meekly in the darkness. It wasn't good enough, she was too weak to fuel the spell anymore than this, and she needed to see beyond her own snout. She was still pretty disorientated from whatever had happened, but she was still sitting within her library, so there were a few light sources she knew she could search for.

From what she could see, destroyed books were scattered everywhere, strewn about as if a storm had taken them after being forcibly ripped apart. Glasses, beakers, and other such equipment she kept around for her research were also smashed into pieces all around her. Many of the shards having managed to find their way into her feet and legs too, she could feel the discomfort as she moved. There was a constant flickering of light over the ground that was giving a poor amount of light, and she heard a gentle crackling, so she could assume something was aflame, but she didn't feel much heat, so it wasn't near enough to her to be dangerous. A brief glimpse at the ground compelled dread to rise in her breast; dark red covered the wooden floor where she lie.

Just how long had she been unconscious and injured in such a state? Celestia’s Sun had been high in the sky when she was studying earlier.

She leaned back again, uneasily bumping into something hard, flat, smooth, and cold. She briefly turned despite the pain, managing to look at it long enough to figure out just what it was. Strangely, it was her floor... not where it should be. To be precise; a large chunk of it that had been ripped from its foundation and impaled within the flooring proper, almost like a statue. That had likely happened during whatever had caused her injuries, so for what it was worth she counted herself lucky it wasn't impaling her.

She closed her eyes, shakily sighing in dejection and swallowing the lump in her throat. The condition of her library was laughably trivial in comparison to the fact she was likely to bleed out shortly. But it didn't stop her from widening her eyes in shock as there was a flash of light in the sky from a distant blowout of some kind, which lit up the library for a few precious moments, revealing that the giant tree had no canopy to it anymore. It was as if somepony had taken a giant axe to her home and left it a jarred stump, the wood was horribly splintered where it had been separated, and was definitely what was puncturing her body. It was somewhat ironic; she'd thought this structure so protective, yet it was likely to be the thing to finish her. The wind picked up as she sat, howling through the open ruin, brushing light debris along before the illumination winked out and left her within the dark again, hiding the deeper destruction that had been created.

While it a substantial loss, her grief was minimal; her beloved library could be rebuilt in time, sweat, and magic.

If I even live that long...

She wasn't one to simply quit, though. Never had been.

Back to finding a light source. The low glow from her horn, in addition to the meagre light from whatever was burning behind her, was enough to spy a damaged lamp still gingerly hanging on the wall directly beyond her. She intently focused on it, magical energy enveloping the object. It took a slight spell to achieve ignition within it, sapping her already limited energy, but it burst into a modest flame that was brighter than if she'd lit it by normal means.

Acceptable.

At best she could view a good portion of her immediate area now, she was in the centre of her library, just about. The area to her left was where the front door should have been, there were only massive pieces of charred lumber now, so behind her near to the back of the room should be the entrance to the basement. From where she sat, the upper section and alcoves of the library were practically non-existent of course, so it would be a safe guess to consider everything once held above and within completely lost, not that she'd have been able to get up there in her condition.

Her next task was to get back on her feet, which in her current state was going to prove rather difficult.

To get moving, she vitally required sorting out her maimed leg. All the knowledge she knew on medical first aid rushed into her mind as she thought on how to go about this, but she saw only one option available to her. She would need to attempt carefully removing the chunk of wood skewered in her muscle, even though that would likely make it hemorrhage further. As well as that she had no clue as to what quantity of blood she'd lost already, but it wasn't feasible to leave it within her leg, there was no way she was going to be able to walk with it stuck in there, and she would also have to sit here until help arrived. Twilight had no estimate as to how long that might take, nor did she actually care to wait as she would most certainly bleed to death long before then.

The first aid kits of the decimated library were nowhere in sight. Normally, Twilight would keep one near the door in case of emergencies, one upstairs near her room, and one down in the basement. Now she definitely considered this an emergency, but from what she could see there was no kit near the area of the door, only splintered and scorched remains. It was also an obvious certainty that the medical supplies she kept upstairs were completely destroyed. Glancing over the numerous spoiled books that covered the floor, she felt relieved to see what appeared to be a lime green container under a pile of debris.

She eagerly floated it out, feeling visibly sullen when she saw it wasn't a medical kit; but a codex on biology.

Perseverance would eventually lead her to find the cracked case under the once ornate knight statue that had previously stood in the middle of the library. She was brought down further as she discovered that the medical kit had been entirely busted open by the heavy wooden head. She still opened the box of course, hoping something inside had remained usable. Twilight breathed out thankfully upon her apparent luck, seeing there were still supplies within.

There were two packs of dressing, one torn open but still viable, a few remaining safety pins that weren't damaged, and a pair of clamps, along with one bent pair of scissors, a few untouched sterile wipes, a needle that thankfully wasn't bent, along with some medical thread, the spool dented but the wire untarnished, and most importantly a single morphine syrette that wasn't fractured. She'd have liked more, but it was still something.

She would need to be quick and careful with what came next.

Bracing herself for the pain to come, she took out the syrette, yanking off the metal wire and jabbing the needle just above the damaged portion of her calf. The initial stab of pain from the needle piercing her flesh immediately left, the throbbing ache in her calf lessening a great deal due to the magically potent drug. Now she focused on the wooden shard, this certainly wasn't going to be enjoyable, but she needed to get herself moving and stop this bleeding.

Twilight closed her eyes, taking a few breaths to steady herself, and sharply pulled on the invading object. She wasn't very proud to say her scream was that of a little filly's, but thanks to the fast-acting morphine, the suffering was much less fierce as she removed the chunk. The tears liberally streamed down her face, just as blood now flowed even freer from the gaping wound once more. Fast as she could, she ripped a sterile wipe free of its packet, cleaning over the afflicted area as well as possible, while her magic started to unfold some of the available dressing at the same time.

She cried out again, albeit a tad quieter this time, as she used the clamps to pin the flesh together, and she gritted her teeth with each instance of the needle piercing her skin, as she swiftly stitched the open laceration shut. With her arms left shaking from the ordeal, she wrapped her leg around with the clean dressing as best she could manage, using the safety pins to keep the bandages in place. She wished she had the time to remove all the tiny splinters, glass shards, and Celestia knew what else, but it wasn't a luxury she could afford right now, she would have to bear with it in the meantime and hope the morphine lasted.

She allowed herself a great sigh of relief as she let the leftover equipment gracelessly drop to the floor, her horn ceasing its glow. All this magic fatigue left her considerably enervated for a few moments. The magically imbued morphine was helping her calm down a great deal, as was the adrenaline rushing through her system, also lessening the stress to a good degree too as she'd never ever dreamed of having to do such a thing in her life.

Get up.

Concurring with her thoughts, she let out a pained groan as she willfully forced herself onto her feet using the massive shaft of her floor as support, making sure to keep her weight on her better leg. Her side was screaming out at her with fiery hot pulses, the remaining length of timber still dug in there. Agonisingly she realised she couldn't remove the large chunk because she'd risk immediate bleedout. She used what was left of the dressing to awkwardly compress it around the wood, hoping it would be enough to staunch the flow. She tripped slightly upon taking a step forwards, but kept her balance.

Warmth slowly began to spread down her leg after a few moments, unfortunately meaning the wound in her calf had reopened despite the stitches and clamps.

If there was one single trait Twilight Sparkle prided herself on, it was determination. She'd succeeded in trudging to the destroyed exit before needing to take a breather. Her magic was just barely strong enough to float a fallen branch from the floor, serving as a makeshift crutch of sorts.

She struggled and pushed against the fallen debris blocking her exit, nudging it all out of the way in due time. Twilight managed to get a few small steps from her destroyed home before halting and wishing she'd never left as she gazed out upon the landscape.

Ponyville was in ashes.

The night was woefully revealed to her as her eyes adjusted to the new light level from fires burning all around, the bodies of slain ponies lie randomly where they had fallen. Some had clearly died in agony, their faces a disturbing mask of their final moments, others had closed their eyes in a mockingly peaceful manner.

Twilight stood there for what felt like an eternity simply staring at a small foal that had fallen just metres from where she was. The body was torn open, his innards splayed out in the mud, like the colt had been cleaved by a wild beast, his face also a ruin. Twilight stomach lurched at the view of his mutilated visage, doing all she could to stop herself from vomiting or beginning to hyperventilate at the sight of it. But she didn't halt the tears that cascaded down her cheeks.

It was downright horrifying. She couldn't move, couldn't act. She was frozen.

Not until she saw Spike, a fair distance away.

The lithe dragon was slumped on his front, clearly wounded somehow, but in what manner she couldn't properly discern from here, but she could see his chest moving. She didn't think now, just simply rushed towards his prone form as fast as her feet would allow, willfully forcing herself past the anguish in her own body, she shouted his name, not getting any response, but she still kept on.

Then she stopped abruptly as another shout from somepony else sounded in the air. She turned towards the direction of the noise, but what followed next was burst of light, and an explosion, accompanied by the single most excruciatingly distinguishable pain she'd ever experienced. It tore into her shoulder, driving itself through with such power that she was forced back, causing agony in a small blowout of gore that took her down into the dirt where she narrowly avoided landing on the lengthy shard and outright killing herself from the impalement. Twilight felt her lungs and throat burn, and for many seconds believed she wasn't breathing properly, until she realised she was actually screaming, but no matter how hard she cried out, it wasn’t stopping this torrent of hell she was experiencing.

Her eyes darted about in abject horror, she had no clue what was happening around her, she was frantically gawking into the sky all of a sudden, breathing so fast and panicking so much that she thought she might have a heart attack. Her vision quickly swam while stars danced in her skull each time she closed her eyes, and she felt like she was going to fall up into the night. She couldn't see properly either, why couldn't she see? Everything was blurring, the tears were pouring down her muzzle. Her chest rose and fell so rapidly.

The world was getting darker, the black was encroaching around her eyes, and she was becoming so cold suddenly. Luna's bright stars were above her, a small part of her registered their beauty, she wondered if she was swimming? Her breathing was becoming laboured and beginning to slow down, the world sounded muffled like she was submerged underwater, she must have been swimming, where was her mother? Twilight was becoming sleepy now, her head was getting heavier and there were more stars dancing in her eyes. Maybe she should sleep off the pain came a thought, her eyes beginning to close.

Everything sharply came back into focus again for the moment when a clawed foot slammed onto her chest. The sudden impact wrenched her from the grisly confines she'd been sinking down into. She was still breathing heavily, her heart was pounding in her ears, and her brain rebooted again making her realise just how close she had actually come to passing into the void. She'd almost let it happen too, but she wouldn't, she had to fight to stay awake, she wouldn't join Ponyville...

She looked up the form binding her in place, recoiling in fear at the scarily masked creature that was dangerously towering over her. She wasn't sure at first, but the creature looked vaguely Gryphon-like through her blurred perception.

No, it was a Gryphon.

"We got a survivor, barely. Unicorn. Orders, Ma'am?"

Twilight couldn't speak, it burned too much, her throat was so dry. All that escaped her was a choked gasp for air, with that heavy foot weighing down on her like a basket of apples, all she could do was struggle to stay conscious, the dark still crept around the edges of her vision, but each twist she made brought fresh waves of pain that helped her to not succumb to the embrace of sleep. She knew if she fell asleep she wouldn't wake up again.

"No, Ma'am. I neutralised her; hit her in the shoulder." He paused, examining her for a second, his voice sounded deep and gravelly. "She's already heavily wounded though, looks like shrapnel damage from the artillery, she's had some medical attention already; looks self-administered, still got some shrapnel in her. ...Description? Of course, Ma'am."

She weakly turned her head to face the lying drake and tried her damndest to move towards him, but she was forced back in place by the Gryphon's heavy talons, causing a fresh lance of pain through her chest again, the feeling jolted her from drowsiness a tad more at the very least. Spike still hadn't been moving properly, she prayed to Celestia he was going to be alright. The Gryphon leant down before her face, talking again, but it wasn't to her, someone else... Twilight then noticed the bulky radio on his uniform.

Even in her somewhat delirious state she knew he'd been the attacker, if the strange instrument he held within his hands was anything to go by, she'd seen those evil things before in the newspapers, they were meant to be outlawed by the strict order of Princess Celestia for the sheer cruelty they inflicted. She shouted out again when he shifted his weight and sent more stabs running continuously her system in conjunction to the new wound that was bored through her shoulder, feeling both indignation and a flush of embarrassment as he forcibly ripped off her skirt and exposed her delicate lower body to his prying eyes, she whimpered in protest as he carelessly pushed her onto her good side to examine where her buttocks met her upper thigh.

"-nd purple. Cutie mark is a... starburst; large star surrounded by smaller stars." She heard him finish his summary of her appearance, clicking his beak and letting her fall onto her back again, she feebly attempted to cover herself, feeling her underwear wasn't enough. He raised an eyebrow after a few seconds, looking around for something. "Yes, I see it, heavily damaged but it's definitely a giant tree. ...I'm not sure. Nnnno-Wait, yes, yes I do; the dragon isn't far from my position, I'll check his vitals shortly. No, of course not, understood, Ma'am." With that, the radio buzzed silent. The Gryphon's face was hidden behind the mask, but it definitely focused on her own now, he probably wasn't the friendly sort. "Looks like it's your lucky day, mare. Apparently you and the lizard are important..."

He pulled a syringe out of a pack on his hip, roughly forcing it into her arm, before the world disappeared in an instant burst as that object he clutched, smashed into her face.

Comments

[TwilightDrgn]

hurry up already XP

[LupusQ]

This is exciting Eagerly awaiting more

[RedtheDestroyer]

That was one of the best reads I've had in a long time keep going