The Unseeing

The alley-like area in between houses were very narrow.  It felt like the whole house was a barrier from a comfortable leg space. The gate to the backyard itself was just a hinge and a door, with no fence in between. The space was beginning to make me fear I was claustrophobic, and everything was narrowing, becoming shorter, as if anything but such a space was unheard of, that this closed path must be followed, faithfully without counteraction. My heart began to race, to run from the walls, from confinement, from damnation, searching for a way out from a path that shouldn't be deviated. Surely a straight path is better than a maze, safety better than adventure, and a pre packaged life better than one made yourself?

As I sat gasping, Rose jolted in alert to my panic attack, and immediately began to try to calm me. "Ether are you alright?" she asked me with concern, gently holding my hoof, and seeming a bit shocked. She herself seemed to be losing self confidence in her ability to calm me.

"I have no idea Rose. This is something I never wanted to have happened, if I had just payed more attention in class, or asked for help, reached out more than I did," I sighed. "Do you think I could've prevented this?" I asked slowly.

"I believe you tried your hardest. You knew that this was coming and you tried to prevent it, you shouldn't beat yourself up about this Ether, I've seen other ponies let themselves go and not try to help themselves."

For a few minutes we sat there, letting the wind calm us as I contemplated about what the next few days would be like. The process would be nearly immediate at school, and the moment I transitioned from my classes to the new ones my sight would be gone. There would be no more artwork to see, all of Equestria's beauty locked away from me.

Rose began to stand up, and looked at the darkening sky. "A storm must be scheduled for today, we need to go to school before the both of us get drenched, maybe we can make it before the second class starts?" she suggested. "Id hate to get in trouble, but were late as it is anyways."

Slowly picking myself up, realizing that the time I had to see was fading, I became drastically more desperate. "What if I didn't go to school today?"

Rose gave a small smirk at me, "Cmon, quit joking, your beginning to make me sad," she said with a teasing frown, "Do you want me sad?"

"No Rose of course not, I want everyone to be happy," I replied, making her ease up a small bit. "In fact, I want everyone to greet each other with open arms and for rainbows to rain down, and for everyone to tell me it'll be alright," and with that went her comfort.

"But everything will be alright Ether, just think of this as a beginning. A new phase of your life, a new chance has been gifted to you. Doesn't that make you happy? All your previous responsibilities are gone, you can't possibly go!"

"I don't care!" I yelled, "I want nothing but to see!" Stomping my hoof on the ground, I shook my head violently. "Rose I have to go, you know this, right?"

"Ether you can't leave, think of your family, what about your friends, how do you think I would feel?" she questioned.

"My family was the one to take my right of sight away from me!" I objected, "Its them who put me here!"

"Then think of your friends, how would they feel losing a friend?"

"The list of people who I could call that is very slim, and they have others to comfort them don't you see?" In frustration I began walking away, prompting Rose to step out from between the gap of her house and the neighbors. "Why can't you help me with this Rose? Go to school, tell them I'm late, I'm coming, I'm going to be right there. Give me time to get away from here." I pleaded to her.

"But I can't Ether," she protested, and I asked her why. "Its because I don't want to see you go from here, we've known each other for so long, you're one of my best friends." she said, tearing up.

"Listen," I said firmly to her, I'm setting this in stone, you aren't stopping me from going. Your going to have to choose to help me or not Rose."

She wavered for a few moments, looking towards her front door for a few more, and finally reaching into her bags to retrieve a bag of bits."Fine" was all she said before handing me the bits, it was a small amount, presumably just lunch money.

The gesture, even though small surprised me, "Thank you Rose, you have no idea how much this means to me."

"I hope you think about what I said about perspective," she said sadly, "Please reconsider your actions."

"Ill have plenty of time to think when I get away from here. Maybe this won't be forever." With those words I gave Rose a hug, and began to cry. "Im going to miss you Rose." I said in between sobs, as she said the same, rubbing my back with a hoof.

Both of us collapsed right there as we began sobbing like small children, hoping that this was a dream and would end at any moment. Lightning struck and it began to drizzle, wetting our fur. The door to Rose's house creaked open loudly as her mother stepped outside, her face up, examining the sky. Within a moment of doing so, she stomped her hoof on the floor loudly, making the noise echo around the neighborhood. She looked straight at us and confusedly said, "Rose, is that you, and...?"

Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "Go!" Rose yelled at me, pushing me to help the process.

My legs kicked into gear as my adrenaline began pumping, making me sprint faster than Ive ever before. I took a second to tilt my head back, and saw Rose being dragged inside her home. My heart sank, but I kept running.