That's The Night The Lights Went Out In Canterlot

Reggie knew from the turns they took that he was being directed to a part of the castle that he hadn’t been to before. But from his experience of hearing the guards stamp their hooves before opening a set of double doors, he knew he was entering another large chamber.

“SURPRISE!” several voices suddenly yelled out at once.

BAMMF! sounded and he felt a blast of wind strike his face.

Then he was on his back, screaming as his eyes burned like they were on fire. Instincts tried to make him claw at his orbs to remove the intense burning sensation, but despite his agony, he had enough awareness to fight that impulse, knowing that he could permanently lose his eyes if he tried to rub the irritant out of them. And while he forced his hands to merely shield his eyes, his fingers clawing at his forehead, he could feel some sort of debris sticking to his face under his palms.

“Hold still, Reggie,” he heard someone calmly speaking to him, the voice getting through his mind despite his screams. He tried, but keeping control of his fingers and hand was as much as he could manage in his agony; the rest of his body was on full auto-writhing. “We’re here to help! Try to relax!”

He felt his frame being pulled and straightened from his fetal curl, his hands forcefully removed from his face, his head held still from violently shaking side to side, and his eyelids forced open, exposing his burning organs to the naked air. Then he felt several somethings being removed from his face and eyes. All through that, he continued to scream in pain. Finally, the worst of the burning in his eyes faded to where it was just an intense stinging, still painful, but at least sufficiently reduced to where he could get control of his outcries.

“It’s still burning!” Reggie grunted, struggling against the restraints holding him from moving.

“I’m here, Reggie,” a new voice said. He recognized it was Doctor Splint. There was a new sensation of tingling on his eyes added to his already burning sensation, which was very unpleasant. “Yes, that’s to be expected. There is considerable scratching to the cornea and sclera, but all the confetti and debris have been removed. You may still feel like there’s something in there, but your eyes should heal up in a few days. I’ll make sure to provide you eye drops. Can I assume you know how to use them?”

“What the fuck hit me?” Reggie exclaimed as whatever was restraining him lowered him to the floor then removed. Once released, he quickly scrambled back, crab-walking until he came up against a wall.

“Are you okay, Reggie?” Celestia asked, her voice carrying concern.

“Fuck, no, I’m not okay!” he yelled, cringing from whatever other hazard might be lurking in that room. “I nearly lost my fucking eyes!”

“I’m very sorry!” another voice, this one very high-pitched, yelled out. “I expected you to blink when I shot my party cannon! That’s what every other pony does!”

“What th—WHAT THE FUCK?” Reggie exclaimed, keeping his eyes shut and turning away from that voice, as he kept an arm up to protect his face. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?”

“I said I was sorry!” that new voice spoke up again. “Everypony loves my party cannon! I use it to shoot out confetti and balloons! It’s great for getting celebrations off with a bang! This was supposed to be your Welcome to Equestria Party! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for you to get hurt!”

Reggie was stunned speechless for nearly a full minute as his mind tried to process what he had been told. In the meanwhile, he was finally able to get his hyperventilating under control, and a cold calculated hatred began to form in his heart.

“Wait,” he growled. “You use an air gun to blast confetti and shit into people’s faces?”

“Well, not an air gun,” the being said. “A party cannon! But, yeah!”

“And were you not informed that I’m blind?”

“Of course I was, silly!” the monster told him. “We met during last night’s Dreamwalking! I’m Pinkie Pie! Glad to finally meet you in ponyson!”

It was nearly another minute before Reggie could speak again.

“ARE YOU SOME BAT-SHIT CRAZY STUPID FUCKING INSANE IDIOT?!?” he suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs. “WHAT FUCKING MORON THINKS IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO SHOOT CONFETTI INTO A BLIND MAN’S FACE!? THAT’S JUST PURE FUCKING EVIL!! GET THAT PSYCHO BITCH AWAY FROM ME BEFORE I SHRED HER TO FUCKING PIECES!!”

There was silence for several moments. Then someone, possibly that insane Pinkie Pie, suddenly screamed out her sobs as she ran away.

“Well, tha’ party shur wuza flop!” Reggie hear someone with a strong country accent mutter.

“That was so-o-o awesome!” someone else shouted out. “Did you see the look on their faces?”

“Knock it off, Discord,” the country accented one shot back. “’Twern’t funny at all!”

“I think that’s been enough excitement for one day, everypony!” Celestia sternly cut in. “I deeply apologize, Reggie. I certainly didn’t expect you to be injured by this welcoming celebration. Doctor Splint, please assist Reggie back to his room.”

He sighed as he lay back, partially sitting in bed. He kept his eyes closed as that was less painful that trying to blink. Fucking things are going to unbearably itch for days, if not weeks! he thought, slipping over to his side. He had once accidently scratched one of his eyes a few years ago on the edge of a paper sack, so he knew what to expect from the coming days.

“Um—Reggie?” Fluttershy’s soft voice spoke, jolting him out of a light dozing that he had just entered.

“I—I know you’re hurting,” she continued. “But if you’d like to talk, I’m here. That is, if you don’t mind.”

His body jerked and he hissed as the sharp fiery cuts on his cornea rubbed against the inside of his eyelids.

“Hi, Fluttershy,” he groaned, sitting up and turning about to sit on the edge of the bed so he could face her.

“I’m—I’m very sorry you got hurt,” she told him.

“Well, you weren’t the one who shot that shit into my face, were you?” Reggie asked.

“Oh, no! I would never do that!” she softly exclaimed.

“Good! Because I don’t ever want to have to deal with the one who did,” he growled. “Who was it that did it, anyhow?”

“P-Pinkie Pie,” the timid pegasus admitted. “But she didn’t want to hurt you, either! Can’t you find it in your heart to forgive her?”

“Don’t tell me that you’re crazy, too!” Reggie exclaimed, hissing as his reflexive eye movements sent renewed fiery pain through his eyes. “Seriously? How can I ever forgive someone like that?”

“But she didn’t mean for you to get hurt! It was an accident! She’s very, very sorry!” Fluttershy explained. “And you did forgive Ralf for hitting you on the head and causing your blindness to begin with.”

“That’s way different!” Reggie countered. “For one, I was the scary alien bug showing up from out of the blue on his doorstep, and he thought I was about to attack his partner. I understand about him doing his duty, even if he was a little excessive in whacking me.

“And there’s just the slightest chance that my vision might return,” he continued. “But for that to happen, I’ll still have to have a working set of eye balls! It won’t do me a damned bit of good for this concussion to heal if my eyes get torn out of their sockets!

“But that Pinkie Pie was recklessly irresponsible!” he pointed out. “Anyone with a lick of commons sense would know not to blast anyone in the face with an air cannon full of confetti, much less a blind individual! You just don’t do that to a person! Even you said you wouldn’t do something like that!”

There was silence between them for several long moments. Then he felt her hoof gently lay on his thigh.

“But she’s my friend,” she begged. “And I’d like to think I’m your friend. And friends forgive each other.”

“That—creature—is not my friend!” Reggie growled. There were several more moments of silence before he could speak again. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” he told her. “You’ve been nice to me and I appreciate it. I do. And I’d like to think that we could be friends, too, although, I have to wonder how you can chose to have such a friend as that thing. But be that as it may, you’ll just have to accept that even friends of friends don’t necessarily have to be friends with each other.”

A sudden sobbing by the door burst out and there was the sound of hoof beats running away.

“What th—she was here?” Reggie exclaimed as he realized that that monster had been in the room the whole time and instantly covered his eyes with a hand.

“S-s-sorry! Sh-she was hoping you’d find it in your heart to be willing to forgive her,” Fluttershy explained. “She was so worried you were still mad at her that you’d not let her get close enough to apologize.”

“I don’t care if she apologizes or not,” Reggie hissed as renewed pain shot through his orbs, but it wasn't nearly as painful as the feeling of betrayal he felt. “I just never want her close enough to ever repeat what she did to me! If you’d like us to remain friends, you’ll keep her away from me!” he shouted, jerking his leg away from her touch.

“I’m—I’m—I’m s-s-sorry,” she whispered. She waited a while for Reggie to respond, but he refused to acknowledge her. Finally, she departed.