Within the rubble

by JustGracey

First published

Vinyl Scratch's world has just tumbled around her but her mother acts as a pillar to keep the destruction from effecting her daughter and her happiness. Witness as mother and daughter learn that even in a candy coloured world, life is not so sweet.

Vinyl Scratch is the background character we all know and love, but where is her backstory? When the doors close, who is Vinyl Scratch? Well before we can dive into Vinyl, we must first meet those who shaped her. This includes characters such as Lyra Heartstrings, Derpy Hooves and Vinyl's young mother, Hazel. When a catastrophe occurs in the town of Ponyville, Vinyl's life is turned upside down. Now it is up to Hazel to protect her daughter from the dangerous of the outside world and search for their past within the rubble.

Once upon a time...

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“Mommy!” A tiny wild blue maned foal galloped toward the white coated mare who turned around within the rubble and forced a smile upon her lips.

“Vinyl!” The older unicorn exclaimed and using her red tinted magic she lifted the foal over the rubble and glass.

“Mommy, can I sleepover at Lyra’s tonight?” The foal asked sitting upon the back of her mother as she scrapped through the ruins for anything that was saved in the incident.

“Both of us may have to… How is Lyra’s mother? I heard she was shook up after last night.” The mare said, finding little but smashed records, and broken picture frames. Using her magic, the white unicorn pulled the pictures out and piled them together.

“Lyra said she’s fine, mommy. I didn’t see her though. But their house seems fine.” Vinyl replied and saw four records still intact, her fathers records. The young unicorn grunted as she used all the magical power she could muster to pull the records toward her. Lifting one record with the blue array of magic took a great amount of effort for the young unicorn who had only received her cutie mark several days before at a concert with her fath-

CRASH!

The record hit the the floor with an almighty smash, pieces flailing everywhere including her mothers coat. The mare took little notice and sighed upon seeing the broken remains but turned to her foal with a reassuring smile.

“Mommy, I am so sorry!” Vinyl cried out, leaping from her mother to the mess.

“Sweetheart, come on. It was an accident, I know that.” The red maned mare said softly and took the foal from the ground. “Tell Lyra to ask her mother if we can both stay in her house tonight.” Vinyl’s mother said and set her foal onto the danger-free grass. The blue haired foal nodded eagerly and nudged her nose against her mothers before trotting off immediately. Her mother smiled and let out a content sigh from her lips.

“Sweet kid.” A deep and masculine voice said from her left, “I see your family suffered greatly last night.” He said and the white mare turned and looked at the other side of what was once her home through the rubble and broken walls.

“As much as everypony else.” The female unicorn said and galloped to the grey colt around the ruins.
“Hazel, there is no need to hold back. Everypony knows what you did and we are all very grateful…”The colt trailed off seeing that bringing up the mare’s current situation did nothing but pierce a cold dagger into her heart. “I’m sorry Hazel, I just thought-“
Q
“No, Thunder. It’s fine.” The crimson maned mare, now known as Hazel, said. Her once soft spoken voice shook as a lump gathered in her throat.

“Mommy!” Hazel heard her child call from afar. Her hazel eyes turning to the blue maned foal who yelled happily, “Mrs Heartstrings said its fine!”

Hazel chuckled and turned to the colt who was chuckling, thoroughly amused by the child’s enthusiastic and wild persona.

“How did a laid back mare produce such boisterous foal?” Thunder asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.
“I suppose I just got lucky.” Hazel grinned and trotted away, lifting what she had saved from the ruins of her house with her glowing horn. “Goodnight, Thunder.” She called and broke into a casual gallop toward her foal and followed Vinyl into the home of the Heartstrings.

HAZEL!

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“-And then out of no where, my coffee spills! Out of nowhere it just tipped and Lyra- Yes! Lyra! She tells me, “Mommy, your coffee is going to stain my book!” The audacity! I mean, my pristine white tablecloth cost me thirty bits! And she is worrying about a book?” Melody Heartstrings rambled as Hazel flicked through her saved photos. Smiling upon occasion at the sight of her beautiful foal smiling at the camera. PhotoFinish was such a good baby sitter to her daughter. After all, she worked very close with Vinyls father and was more than helpful around Hazel’s house when Hazel was working. Vinyl adored her babysitter, even with the funny accent that she knew was put on as an act. When PhotoFinish was alone with Vinyl’s family, her accent was thrown away immediately and her voice was quite deep for a mare, but Vinyl knew better than to mention any shape or form of flaws to anypony. Especially since her mother suffered from so many.

Her mother was an average mare from Ponyville, A white coat with a soft texture and her mane had many imperfections. Curls in all the wrong places. Frizzing at a drop of water. Her mane was almost a faded shade of crimson with cherry red strands running through it. Hazel was named Hazel because of her bright green eyes with brown specks sprinkled within them but the left eye was clouded at the right corner and her eyesight was almost useless anyway thus her thick rimmed glasses sat upon her face. A pony with glasses…Something wasn’t right there. She didn’t suit them, nopony suited them. Hazel was not far from adolescence herself, in fact she was a young adult. Her left ear was cut off just above the half way point but even throughout all of this, Vinyl still saw her mother, as perfection.

“Hazel? HAZEL!” Melody yet, stomping her hoof against the oak floor boards, Hazel snapped out of her little trance and looked at her friend.

“Sorry, Melody…I was just looking at these.” She flicked the photos upwards with a smile tugging her lips. The green mare smiled slightly, looking at the photos. She wrapped her foreleg around her friend.

“They are gorgeous photos Hazel. But we need to talk about last night.” Melody said firmly attempting to keep eye contact with the white mare.

“I don’t want to speak of it yet.” Hazel almost growled, her shoulders tensed as she forced Melody’s comforting hug away.

“This is no time for you to start sulking, Hazel! What about your house? What about Vinyl?” Melody’s voice raised, her hoof hitting the floorboards to emphasise the importance of the unicorns foal.

Hazel turned to the green mare, her eyes blazing with anger and leaking with tears. “Don’t you dare act as though I am in the wrong! We did all we could to protect Vinyl. And I am scared Mel! I am scared that my foal will not see her father for the rest of her life. I am scared that my foal will not receive the right amount of nourishment because I can no longer afford it? Look at my house Melody! It’s gone! How can I afford to have it rebuilt and still manage my daughter’s needs? She must have food, water, toys, a warm bed, a sturdy house- And I can’t give her that anymore because it is all gone!” Hazel cried out and reared up on her hind legs and slammed back down in a tearful rage. When realisation hit her, her body collapsed in a hopeless slump. “I can’t raise her alone…”
Melody immediately ran to her friend’s side and draped over her, wrapping Hazel in a tight hug. Melody was lost for words, she would offer to help Hazel but that was a promise that she couldn’t keep. After all she had a family too, a husband and three foals was hard enough to look after. “I am so sorry, Hazel… I really and truly am.” Melody said quietly to Hazel with a sincere and sorrowful tone. There they lay, two mares in one miserable situation that would change their lives forever.