Ě̺̯̰̹̲͚̫v̟̟͙̫̤̤̳ì̀̈́l̝̻ͭ͗̋ ̿̂Ä̰̝͉̊m͕̻̩̟̲̲̖o͙̥n̰̰̹̙̲̒̈́͋̏̍g̝̅̐̿͂ ̜͇ͮ͐̉̉ͬU̠̲̼̤͈̥̗̐͋̉̊̚s͙̹͓̩̯̑̇̽̈́ͦ̓by psvitafanboy222ChaptersIIIIIIIIt was storming in Canterlot City, which meant that most of everyone there was inside. Most apartments in Canterlot were running on generators, and some had even lost power entirely. The rain was falling so heavily that it could crush someone. The frequent lightning and thunder complimented the rainfall very nicely. Sunset Shimmer sat inside of her bedroom in her apartment, reading a book that her friend Twilight Sparkle (SciTwi) had recommended for Sunset to read. It was called "Summer Falls", and was written by an author who was apparently never seen by anyone in person, even though her book was in the city's best bookstores. It wasn't a bad book, in Sunset's total opinion. It had an interesting plot, fascinating characters, and amazing detail, which really made Sunset glad that she was reading it. As she flipped to the next page, however, her bedroom light just turned off. 'Ugh! I hope that wasn't a blown fuse!' Sunset thought to herself, angry that she had just been interrupted by the inconvenience of her light turning off on its own. She got up, slightly waving her arms in front of her to avoid bumping into anything. When she reached her bedroom door, she opened it and saw that everything in her apartment room had lost power. 'You have to be kidding.' She started to move towards her door to get into the apartment complex's hallway but bumped into a coffee table. She yelped quietly in pain but got over it quickly. She continued on her way to the door and made it. She opened the door and was bemused to see that the lights had gone off in the hall as well. Sighing, Sunset went back inside to retrieve her cell phone from her bedroom. She did so quickly and made her way back to the hallway, aided by the light from her phone. She looked around the hall, seeking the fusebox that was on the wall. When she saw it, she headed towards it, hoping that there were extra fuses inside of the small, glass case that the landlord always wanted to keep extra fuses at. Everyone living in the apartment complex agreed with this (having extra fuses next to the fusebox) a while ago, so the apartment's company began to raise money to pay for extra fuses. Sunset opened the glass case, holding her phone in her other hand. She took one fuse and shut the case. She opened the fusebox and looked for a blown fuse. She was filled with perplexion when she saw that there were no blown fuses, though. 'What in Cele-' The sound of booming thunder was heard, and a fuse blew up right in Sunset's eyes. She screamed, not totally sure what had happened, but knowing that it was bad since her eyes felt as though they were being roasted like marshmallows. She had just dropped her phone, not caring about it at the moment, and covered her eyes in hopes of easing the pain. As soon as the pain and the volume of her screams amplified, she wondered why in all Tartarus she thought covering her eyes would ease the pain. Her screams of agonizing pain had soon grown quiet, and she blacked out. Sunset woke up... in a void of nothingness. That's all she saw. It was totally silent, and there was no signs of life, or even objects, anywhere around her. When she glanced down, she noticed that she couldn't even see herself. She began to hyperventilate, fearing the worst. As her breaths became louder, she noticed a sort of... white pulse coming from where she could only assume her mouth was since she couldn't see herself. As the white pulse got further away from her... things began to become visible. However, everything was a ghostly shade of black, with bright white lines defining the shapes of objects around her. "W-what?!" Sunset said, making another pulse come from where she was. She had spoken a little louder than she expected to, but she was more concerned that everything was black with white outlines. She stayed quiet for a moment, but then everything began to turn to the terrifying shade of black. "W-wait!!" Sunset said, again, louder than she expected herself to say it. As she said that, another white pulse came from her direction. Everything was defined by white outlines again. Sunset looked around while the white outlines were still present, and she noticed that she was in... a hospital room? Something like that. It might've been easier to tell if she could see a little more than just black with a little bit of white. Sunset was calmed down, but only a little bit. She had no idea what was happening to her, or why. Was she going to be like this forever? Right after that thought, the door to the hospital room opened, making a white pulse come from the door, and an unknown figure, along with six very familiar looking figures walked in. But just like everything else in the room, they were all a void-like shade of black, with white outlines defining the shape of their figures and a few other details, such as clothing. "SUNSET!!!" The six feminine figures all screamed. This made a very... powerful... white pulse emit from them. At the same time, it made Sunset's ears ring. "GAH! Ouch!" Sunset said, covering her ears. Everything seemed to be louder than usual today... or tonight? Sunset couldn't tell. Mainly because there were no windows in the room. "OH MY GOSH! SUNSET, WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!! ARE YOU OKAY?! WE WERE SO WORRIED THAT YOU WERE A GONER, BUT WE GOT HOPE FROM EACH OT-" The sound and speed of that voice gave away who was talking. That was definitely the voice of Pinkie Pie. However, it didn't help Sunset's pained ears very much. "Ow..." Sunset muttered. 'Wait... if Pinkie's here... were those other voices the other girls?' Sunset thought to herself. "Girls... is that you?" Sunset asked, emitting another white pulse. She realized something after that. Every time there was a sound, one of those white pulses would emit from wherever the sound was coming from. It also seemed like louder sounds had more powerful pulses. "Yeah.... of course it's us, Sunset!" A voice that sounded like Rainbow Dash said. "One of yer neighbors told us what happened to you, Sunset. At least what they thought happened..." another voice said, sounding like a certain farm girl named Applejack. "You tried to change a fuse while there were lightning bolts striking everywhere?" Twilight asked, sounding worried sick. "..." Sunset stayed quiet. "Well?" Rainbow asked. "..." Sunset stayed silent. "You alright, hun?" Applejack asked. "I..." Sunset was beginning to think about her current state. Everything was black and white. She was hearing everything at least twenty percent louder. She had barely recognized her own dear friends at first. She had a killer headache. She was seeing pulses of white outlines coming from any sound that she heard. "Is... there a doctor anywhere nearby...?!" Sunset asked, her voice cracking a little. "Right here!" Said the unfamiliar figure that was with the girls. "Oh... good..." Sunset said, feeling a little more than just worried. "Did you need something?" The doctor asked, rather happily. "Can you tell me what's wrong with me?" The room went silent for a moment, which made everything go completely black for Sunset. "Well... assuming that you mean about your vision... we weren't able to totally figure it out. You're not totally blind, but you're blind... to a limited extent. You seem to have developed some sort of... echolocation-like ability. It isn't echolocation... but it's very much like it. Even then, we haven't seen it before." The doctor said. "Oh...?" Sunset said, rather quietly. "But... we were able to figure out that it's still developing, so you might just be able to see a lot better before you know it!" The doctor said. "Oh... that's great." Sunset said, giving a worried smile. "But..." Sunset's smile vanished. "You won't be seeing many colors anytime soon. Perhaps you will one day... but that will be... quite a while from now. From what we've predicted, you won't be seeing color for about fifteen to twenty-five years." Sunset's expression morphed into a frown. "I'll leave you all here to chat for a little bit. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes." The doctor said, his face full of sympathy. He left the room, but Sunset could still see the pulses of outlines coming from his footsteps through the wall. "So... I guess you had a crazy night pretty recently, huh?" Rainbow said, attempting to lighten the mood a little. II"So... you say that you've been able to hear everything just a little louder? The doctor had returned after Sunset and her friends had talked about Sunset's condition, and a little bit about what had happened over the past three days for about ten to fifteen minutes. Apparently, while Sunset was out, it was noticed by many of the students at CHS that Ditzy Do had been spending a lot of time with a strange man in a brown trench coat and a pinstripe suit, which was rather odd. Sunset had been put into a three-day coma by the blown fuse, so she had missed a fair amount of school. However, she was apparently being excused for her absence due to the circumstances. There were a lot of people at CHS who were waiting for her to get better, including faculty. Sunset had not been listening to most of the conversation, though. She was still very unsettled by her condition. She was taking it rather well, and managed to appear at least a little bit calm about the situation externally. Internally, however, she was terrified. Her fear had simmered down as soon as her doctor came back into the room. He needed to ask Sunset some questions, and asked her friends to leave the room for the moment. They did so, and he started off by asking Sunset about any changes that she had noticed. As soon as she mentioned that she could hear better after explaining her extremely impaired vision, the doctor seemed rather confused. "Yes..." Sunset answered the doctor nervously. It was weird speaking to someone when you couldn't really tell exactly what they looked like. The doctor she was talking to could have had a giant scar over his eye, but she wouldn't be able to tell. "Everything is a little louder than normal." "Well," the doctor began, "it could just be that your brain has more power going to the auditory part of your midbrain, or... it could be something else entirely; something we don't know about." Sunset feared that it was the second one. "I-is there any way to fix them? My eyes and my ears?" Sunset asked. "Well... no." Sunset gasped quietly. "But, like I said, your vision will get better over time. Just because you won't be able to see color for a long time doesn't mean that you'll never get any better." The doctor reassured. Sunset was only calmed a little, but was still glad to hear it. "Now... we don't have a specific amount of time that you need to stay here for... but we suggest that you stay here for a day or two before heading out into public. Mostly so that you can get used to your new eyesight, and so that if there happens to be any changes in your condition, we can look into it. Just let us know if something changes, alright?" The doctor asked. "Alright..." Sunset said. She knew that she wasn't going to have much fun spending her weekend in a hospital. As soon as the doctor left, Sunset began to look around. Her friends were probably outside the room, about to reenter, which Sunset was having a hard time deciding whether or not it was a good thing. She wanted to see them, but she also wanted to take some time alone to get used to her new condition. Suddenly, the door opened, and a tall, skinny figure stepped in. The figure seemed to be looking around... or shaking his head? Sunset couldn't quite tell. "Huh. Wrong room." The figure said, his voice hinting that he was a young boy. He couldn't be older than 13. The boy shut the door, and left. Sunset could still hear the sound of his footsteps through the wall, though. Did that mean that she was seeing the sound of his footsteps? Of course she wouldn't be able to see all sound around her, but sounds that were audible to her could be seen by her... perhaps. A few seconds after the boy left, her friends came back in. "Hey, Sunset," Rainbow began, "did you know that kid? He kinda just walked in like he knew you." "No, he just walked into the wrong room." Sunset answered. There was a brief moment of awkward silence between the seven girls. Sunset didn't like this since everything started to go black due to the lack of sound. She was happy to hear one of the girls speak until she actually processed what she said. "So... what did Dr. Bright ask you?" Pinkie asked. Sunset froze. 'That was Dr. Bright?!' Dr. Bright was usually Rainbow's doctor whenever she got herself hurt playing a game, or doing anything else she could get hurt doing. He and the girls got along well. They weren't best friends, or anything of that nature, but they were still rather familiar with each other. Not to mention that he had a very distinct face. And Sunset hadn't realized that he was her doctor. "Uh..." Sunset started, before going silent for a few seconds. "He just asked some questions..." "Oh! What kind of questions? Did he start asking about your condition? Did he ask about your personal life?! Ooh! He asked if you were feeling okay emotionally, didn't he?! Isn't he great?! Not only does he help Dashie whenever she gets hurt, but he also cares about how you feel on the inside,like me! And he always helps out Dashie, so maybe he helped you out about how you feel..." Sunset was too busy thinking to actually listen to what Pinkie was saying. 'Am I really *that** impaired?'* If she couldn't tell that she was looking at one of the most recognizable people that she knew besides her friends, how would her life be affected by it? Sunset knew that her new condition would really affect her life, but she couldn't even distinguish a familiar face! The only reason she knew that her friends were there is because of their all-too-familiar voices. What if she didn't recognize Vice Principal Luna, or Apple Bloom, or even Lyra Hearstrings? In fact, how would she recognize anyone that she didn't spend a lot of time with? Sunset also noticed that it was warm. Very, very warm. It was cold just a few minutes ago, so why was it warm all of the sudden? Perhaps it was just the body heat of seven girls in the same small room. No. It was warmer than that. It also smelled like... bloo- "Sunset! Are you listening! I was just talking about how modern day technology can be turned against us, and used to destroy all humanity! When did I lose you?" Pinkie asked. "Oh... I think you lost me... when you were guessing what Dr. Bright was asking me about?" Sunset said. Now, the sudden warmth got weirder. It was only coming from one general direction. 'Left.' Sunset looked to her left, and saw just a little bit of an audio pulse. It looked almost red...? She wasn't supposed to be able to see color, right? She took a closer look, but was surprised to see that there was just a continuous audio pulse. She listened to the sound that was creating the pulse, and heard... one big, long, continuous 'beep'. Did... someone die in the next room? "Hey! Sunset! I lost you again! I was just talking about quantum physics, and you zoned out!" Pinkie said, looking mildly annoyed. "Oh... sorry." Sunset said. "Wait... quantum physics?" "Yep!" "She wasn't doing so bad explaining it, really!" Twilight said, adjusting her glasses... or putting them on? It could be either. The girls began to chat a little more, but Sunset was quiet most of the time. She wouldn't be so quiet if she didn't have so much on her mind at the moment. She could barely see the features of a face, and had trouble telling what exactly some people were doing sometimes, so how would she be able to function normally in public as soon as she left the hospital? She could still kind of see writing, but not very well, so how would she know what Princess Twilight is telling her whenever she sends a letter to Sunset? Questions flooded Sunset's mind, but most of all, she was a little terrified. This was all new to her, and she was just taking it all on in a whopping half-hour or so. Maybe she'd get used to it. Of course, she'd need some help. Thankfully, she had her friends. She could ask them to kind of guide her around if she ever needed it. Or, at least make a little noise so that she could see where she was going. They could help her tell who she was talking to, and other things like that. After moments of thinking, Sunset heard bawling from a woman and a little boy. Intense bawling, too. It wasn't her business, but she was still a little curious. Not wanting to start any trouble, she figured that she'd just ask Dr. Bright the next day. Hopefully she doesn't learn so much that she gets involved, though... IIISunset woke up in her hospital room, her back aching from the discomfort of a crude hospital bed. She had fallen asleep surprisingly easily considering that she had been knocked out for three days straight, and the troubling thoughts about her new condition. All of Sunset's friends had gone home the previous night after about an hour of talking, leaving Sunset to her thoughts. She had been thinking for most of the night about how her ruined eyesight would affect her social life, and affect her socially. She opened her eyes, which would usually be hard to do since her eyes would normally adjust to the darkness from her closed eyes, but it was actually surprisingly easy. She felt nothing while opening her eyes, which was a relief to her. She usually hated the feeling she got whenever she opened her eyes. But maybe that was because of the pure blackness that she was seeing since the room was silent. She didn't like it when she couldn't see anything. Instead of laying there doing nothing, Sunset decided to try and sit up, and make as much noise as possible while doing so. Audio pulses began to come from her general direction as she sat up, making the cruddy bed creak. She was also rustling the sheets just to make a little more noise. As the room began to become outlined with white, Sunset noticed that her eyes still felt nothing. Maybe she had no feeling in her eyes anymore? Dr. Bright hadn't mentioned anything about that. Did he not know? Maybe Sunset was supposed to have feeling in her eyes? She hadn't noticed this before. It was actually a little bit of an upside to the situation from Sunset's perspective, however. Since she had no feeling in her eyes, she'd be able to do some cool-ish things. They didn't make much of a difference, but they'd still be pretty nice. She could now open her eyes without having any struggle doing so right after waking up. Along with that, she could probably keep her eyes open longer than usual. Although, she'd still have to try that one. Hopefully, it wasn't bad that she had no feeling in her eyes. Sunset then began to wonder what color her eyes were. She figured that they'd be light blue, like most other blind people's eyes. She wasn't sure, though. She hoped that her eyes would be the same teal that they were before. After a few seconds passed, everything began going black. Not wanting this, Sunset crawled on the hospital bed and towards the wall, and began to tap it. As the pulses returned, Sunset smiled a little bit. It wasn't the worst thing that could've happened, at least. She could've gone totally blind, unable to see at all. She could've even had to lose her eyes! She could put up with the blackness with white outlines, right? Sunset's positive chain of thought was interrupted when Rainbow Dash walked in, looking a little... shocked? "Hey, Sunset." She said. Her eyes were as wide as the sun, and she looked a little freaked out, even. Sunset couldn't see that, though. Sunset had to think of whose voice she just heard. When she realized it was Rainbow, she smiled wider than before. "Hi, Rainbow!" She said, trying to drown her worry with joy. "So... uh... I'm not sure that Applejack will be able to visit you today. Something crazy happened at the barn." Rainbow said. Sunset noticed that she sounded off. "Oh? What happened?" Sunset asked, her smile slightly fading. "It's... pretty messed up. I'm not sure that you can handle it. Even I can barely handle it, and I'm me! I can take on just about anything!" Rainbow said, a smirk growing on her face, but not big enough to hide the shocked expression that she had. Sunset couldn't see Rainbow's frown, but she could see her eyes. 'Huh... am I really getting better that fast?' She asked herself in her head. "It can't be too bad, right? I mean... well... what kind of messed up?" Sunset said, wondering if she actually did want to know. "Uh... how's 'gross', and 'bloody' for an answer?" Rainbow said, emphasizing 'bloody'. "Bloody?! Did someone get hurt?" Sunset asked, her own eyes widening as well. "Well... Applejack and her family are okay, but... it was something else. I'm not sure that telling you is the best idea, since.... uh... you kind of... are... what got hurt." Rainbow said, trying them think of ways to not tell Sunset what had happened. "I'm what got hurt?" Sunset asked, thoroughly confused. "Well... not you in specific... but your... species..." "My species?" "Look, are you fine with hearing it or not? I don't wanna tell you if you're gonna end up sick, or something." Rainbow said. "Is it really so bad that I'd get sick?" Sunset asked. "I don't know! You might?" Rainbow said, raising her voice. "Oh... sorry." Sunset said. "Ugh, look, I didn't mean to snap. It's just..." As Rainbow tried to think of what to say, Sunset spoke. "I'm fine with hearing about what happened. If it's bad, then I need to know what happened of I want to help Applejack and her family with the situation." Sunset said, softly smiling. "Are you sure? You might not-" Rainbow stopped for a moment. "You won't like it." Sunset nodded, still smiling, despite the fact that she was worried. "Is that a 'yes, I won't like it,' or a 'yes, I'm sure?'" Rainbow asked. "Yes, I'm sure." Sunset said. Rainbow must've been stalling. "Okay... here goes nothing..." Sunset forced all of her attention towards Rainbow. "One of the horses at the barn was found all... torn to pieces... this morning..." Sunset's mouth dropped. "W-what?" She asked. "Well, I told you! I mean... you're a horse, too, right?" Rainbow asked. "Just... in a human body. And magical. A magical horse. Right? Or... were you a pony?" "A horse was found... torn to pieces?! Not just dead... but torn to pieces?!" "And whoever did it made a big mess out of it, too. We saw it when there was a bunch of police line around the stables... and poor Fluttershy. She just passed out. Didn't even say anything." Rainbow said. "Why?! Who would do that?! Who has... such a terrible, terrible mind that it tears a poor horse to bits?!" Sunset said. "The cops don't know yet, but they said they'd find out and throw their sorry butts in prison." Rainbow said. "Wow... that's awful! It's sick, and disgusting, and... pretty much EVERYTHING bad that I can think of!" Sunset said, still stunned by the news. "Yeah. Oh, and it got really warm around that area, too. Warmer than everywhere else, anyway. Maybe it was just the... entrails... and stuff?" "Rainbow... I've heard enough. I don't need to hear about the entrails, too..." Sunset said. "Sorry." Rainbow said. "Oh, and the other girls might not show up today. They're worried about you, but they're also worried about AJ. I decided to head over so that you could have some company for at least a little bit, but the girls said that I should also help out with the whole situation over there... y'know? So... I might be leaving soon. We're gonna try and spend more time with you tomorrow, though, so don't worry!" Sunset just flopped onto her back, thinking about the news as she watched the pulses fly. It sickened her that someone would do such a thing. Even though Sunset was a pony rather than a horse, she was still equine. That just made it worse. And who had the strength to rip a horse apart?
IIt was storming in Canterlot City, which meant that most of everyone there was inside. Most apartments in Canterlot were running on generators, and some had even lost power entirely. The rain was falling so heavily that it could crush someone. The frequent lightning and thunder complimented the rainfall very nicely. Sunset Shimmer sat inside of her bedroom in her apartment, reading a book that her friend Twilight Sparkle (SciTwi) had recommended for Sunset to read. It was called "Summer Falls", and was written by an author who was apparently never seen by anyone in person, even though her book was in the city's best bookstores. It wasn't a bad book, in Sunset's total opinion. It had an interesting plot, fascinating characters, and amazing detail, which really made Sunset glad that she was reading it. As she flipped to the next page, however, her bedroom light just turned off. 'Ugh! I hope that wasn't a blown fuse!' Sunset thought to herself, angry that she had just been interrupted by the inconvenience of her light turning off on its own. She got up, slightly waving her arms in front of her to avoid bumping into anything. When she reached her bedroom door, she opened it and saw that everything in her apartment room had lost power. 'You have to be kidding.' She started to move towards her door to get into the apartment complex's hallway but bumped into a coffee table. She yelped quietly in pain but got over it quickly. She continued on her way to the door and made it. She opened the door and was bemused to see that the lights had gone off in the hall as well. Sighing, Sunset went back inside to retrieve her cell phone from her bedroom. She did so quickly and made her way back to the hallway, aided by the light from her phone. She looked around the hall, seeking the fusebox that was on the wall. When she saw it, she headed towards it, hoping that there were extra fuses inside of the small, glass case that the landlord always wanted to keep extra fuses at. Everyone living in the apartment complex agreed with this (having extra fuses next to the fusebox) a while ago, so the apartment's company began to raise money to pay for extra fuses. Sunset opened the glass case, holding her phone in her other hand. She took one fuse and shut the case. She opened the fusebox and looked for a blown fuse. She was filled with perplexion when she saw that there were no blown fuses, though. 'What in Cele-' The sound of booming thunder was heard, and a fuse blew up right in Sunset's eyes. She screamed, not totally sure what had happened, but knowing that it was bad since her eyes felt as though they were being roasted like marshmallows. She had just dropped her phone, not caring about it at the moment, and covered her eyes in hopes of easing the pain. As soon as the pain and the volume of her screams amplified, she wondered why in all Tartarus she thought covering her eyes would ease the pain. Her screams of agonizing pain had soon grown quiet, and she blacked out. Sunset woke up... in a void of nothingness. That's all she saw. It was totally silent, and there was no signs of life, or even objects, anywhere around her. When she glanced down, she noticed that she couldn't even see herself. She began to hyperventilate, fearing the worst. As her breaths became louder, she noticed a sort of... white pulse coming from where she could only assume her mouth was since she couldn't see herself. As the white pulse got further away from her... things began to become visible. However, everything was a ghostly shade of black, with bright white lines defining the shapes of objects around her. "W-what?!" Sunset said, making another pulse come from where she was. She had spoken a little louder than she expected to, but she was more concerned that everything was black with white outlines. She stayed quiet for a moment, but then everything began to turn to the terrifying shade of black. "W-wait!!" Sunset said, again, louder than she expected herself to say it. As she said that, another white pulse came from her direction. Everything was defined by white outlines again. Sunset looked around while the white outlines were still present, and she noticed that she was in... a hospital room? Something like that. It might've been easier to tell if she could see a little more than just black with a little bit of white. Sunset was calmed down, but only a little bit. She had no idea what was happening to her, or why. Was she going to be like this forever? Right after that thought, the door to the hospital room opened, making a white pulse come from the door, and an unknown figure, along with six very familiar looking figures walked in. But just like everything else in the room, they were all a void-like shade of black, with white outlines defining the shape of their figures and a few other details, such as clothing. "SUNSET!!!" The six feminine figures all screamed. This made a very... powerful... white pulse emit from them. At the same time, it made Sunset's ears ring. "GAH! Ouch!" Sunset said, covering her ears. Everything seemed to be louder than usual today... or tonight? Sunset couldn't tell. Mainly because there were no windows in the room. "OH MY GOSH! SUNSET, WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!! ARE YOU OKAY?! WE WERE SO WORRIED THAT YOU WERE A GONER, BUT WE GOT HOPE FROM EACH OT-" The sound and speed of that voice gave away who was talking. That was definitely the voice of Pinkie Pie. However, it didn't help Sunset's pained ears very much. "Ow..." Sunset muttered. 'Wait... if Pinkie's here... were those other voices the other girls?' Sunset thought to herself. "Girls... is that you?" Sunset asked, emitting another white pulse. She realized something after that. Every time there was a sound, one of those white pulses would emit from wherever the sound was coming from. It also seemed like louder sounds had more powerful pulses. "Yeah.... of course it's us, Sunset!" A voice that sounded like Rainbow Dash said. "One of yer neighbors told us what happened to you, Sunset. At least what they thought happened..." another voice said, sounding like a certain farm girl named Applejack. "You tried to change a fuse while there were lightning bolts striking everywhere?" Twilight asked, sounding worried sick. "..." Sunset stayed quiet. "Well?" Rainbow asked. "..." Sunset stayed silent. "You alright, hun?" Applejack asked. "I..." Sunset was beginning to think about her current state. Everything was black and white. She was hearing everything at least twenty percent louder. She had barely recognized her own dear friends at first. She had a killer headache. She was seeing pulses of white outlines coming from any sound that she heard. "Is... there a doctor anywhere nearby...?!" Sunset asked, her voice cracking a little. "Right here!" Said the unfamiliar figure that was with the girls. "Oh... good..." Sunset said, feeling a little more than just worried. "Did you need something?" The doctor asked, rather happily. "Can you tell me what's wrong with me?" The room went silent for a moment, which made everything go completely black for Sunset. "Well... assuming that you mean about your vision... we weren't able to totally figure it out. You're not totally blind, but you're blind... to a limited extent. You seem to have developed some sort of... echolocation-like ability. It isn't echolocation... but it's very much like it. Even then, we haven't seen it before." The doctor said. "Oh...?" Sunset said, rather quietly. "But... we were able to figure out that it's still developing, so you might just be able to see a lot better before you know it!" The doctor said. "Oh... that's great." Sunset said, giving a worried smile. "But..." Sunset's smile vanished. "You won't be seeing many colors anytime soon. Perhaps you will one day... but that will be... quite a while from now. From what we've predicted, you won't be seeing color for about fifteen to twenty-five years." Sunset's expression morphed into a frown. "I'll leave you all here to chat for a little bit. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes." The doctor said, his face full of sympathy. He left the room, but Sunset could still see the pulses of outlines coming from his footsteps through the wall. "So... I guess you had a crazy night pretty recently, huh?" Rainbow said, attempting to lighten the mood a little.
II"So... you say that you've been able to hear everything just a little louder? The doctor had returned after Sunset and her friends had talked about Sunset's condition, and a little bit about what had happened over the past three days for about ten to fifteen minutes. Apparently, while Sunset was out, it was noticed by many of the students at CHS that Ditzy Do had been spending a lot of time with a strange man in a brown trench coat and a pinstripe suit, which was rather odd. Sunset had been put into a three-day coma by the blown fuse, so she had missed a fair amount of school. However, she was apparently being excused for her absence due to the circumstances. There were a lot of people at CHS who were waiting for her to get better, including faculty. Sunset had not been listening to most of the conversation, though. She was still very unsettled by her condition. She was taking it rather well, and managed to appear at least a little bit calm about the situation externally. Internally, however, she was terrified. Her fear had simmered down as soon as her doctor came back into the room. He needed to ask Sunset some questions, and asked her friends to leave the room for the moment. They did so, and he started off by asking Sunset about any changes that she had noticed. As soon as she mentioned that she could hear better after explaining her extremely impaired vision, the doctor seemed rather confused. "Yes..." Sunset answered the doctor nervously. It was weird speaking to someone when you couldn't really tell exactly what they looked like. The doctor she was talking to could have had a giant scar over his eye, but she wouldn't be able to tell. "Everything is a little louder than normal." "Well," the doctor began, "it could just be that your brain has more power going to the auditory part of your midbrain, or... it could be something else entirely; something we don't know about." Sunset feared that it was the second one. "I-is there any way to fix them? My eyes and my ears?" Sunset asked. "Well... no." Sunset gasped quietly. "But, like I said, your vision will get better over time. Just because you won't be able to see color for a long time doesn't mean that you'll never get any better." The doctor reassured. Sunset was only calmed a little, but was still glad to hear it. "Now... we don't have a specific amount of time that you need to stay here for... but we suggest that you stay here for a day or two before heading out into public. Mostly so that you can get used to your new eyesight, and so that if there happens to be any changes in your condition, we can look into it. Just let us know if something changes, alright?" The doctor asked. "Alright..." Sunset said. She knew that she wasn't going to have much fun spending her weekend in a hospital. As soon as the doctor left, Sunset began to look around. Her friends were probably outside the room, about to reenter, which Sunset was having a hard time deciding whether or not it was a good thing. She wanted to see them, but she also wanted to take some time alone to get used to her new condition. Suddenly, the door opened, and a tall, skinny figure stepped in. The figure seemed to be looking around... or shaking his head? Sunset couldn't quite tell. "Huh. Wrong room." The figure said, his voice hinting that he was a young boy. He couldn't be older than 13. The boy shut the door, and left. Sunset could still hear the sound of his footsteps through the wall, though. Did that mean that she was seeing the sound of his footsteps? Of course she wouldn't be able to see all sound around her, but sounds that were audible to her could be seen by her... perhaps. A few seconds after the boy left, her friends came back in. "Hey, Sunset," Rainbow began, "did you know that kid? He kinda just walked in like he knew you." "No, he just walked into the wrong room." Sunset answered. There was a brief moment of awkward silence between the seven girls. Sunset didn't like this since everything started to go black due to the lack of sound. She was happy to hear one of the girls speak until she actually processed what she said. "So... what did Dr. Bright ask you?" Pinkie asked. Sunset froze. 'That was Dr. Bright?!' Dr. Bright was usually Rainbow's doctor whenever she got herself hurt playing a game, or doing anything else she could get hurt doing. He and the girls got along well. They weren't best friends, or anything of that nature, but they were still rather familiar with each other. Not to mention that he had a very distinct face. And Sunset hadn't realized that he was her doctor. "Uh..." Sunset started, before going silent for a few seconds. "He just asked some questions..." "Oh! What kind of questions? Did he start asking about your condition? Did he ask about your personal life?! Ooh! He asked if you were feeling okay emotionally, didn't he?! Isn't he great?! Not only does he help Dashie whenever she gets hurt, but he also cares about how you feel on the inside,like me! And he always helps out Dashie, so maybe he helped you out about how you feel..." Sunset was too busy thinking to actually listen to what Pinkie was saying. 'Am I really *that** impaired?'* If she couldn't tell that she was looking at one of the most recognizable people that she knew besides her friends, how would her life be affected by it? Sunset knew that her new condition would really affect her life, but she couldn't even distinguish a familiar face! The only reason she knew that her friends were there is because of their all-too-familiar voices. What if she didn't recognize Vice Principal Luna, or Apple Bloom, or even Lyra Hearstrings? In fact, how would she recognize anyone that she didn't spend a lot of time with? Sunset also noticed that it was warm. Very, very warm. It was cold just a few minutes ago, so why was it warm all of the sudden? Perhaps it was just the body heat of seven girls in the same small room. No. It was warmer than that. It also smelled like... bloo- "Sunset! Are you listening! I was just talking about how modern day technology can be turned against us, and used to destroy all humanity! When did I lose you?" Pinkie asked. "Oh... I think you lost me... when you were guessing what Dr. Bright was asking me about?" Sunset said. Now, the sudden warmth got weirder. It was only coming from one general direction. 'Left.' Sunset looked to her left, and saw just a little bit of an audio pulse. It looked almost red...? She wasn't supposed to be able to see color, right? She took a closer look, but was surprised to see that there was just a continuous audio pulse. She listened to the sound that was creating the pulse, and heard... one big, long, continuous 'beep'. Did... someone die in the next room? "Hey! Sunset! I lost you again! I was just talking about quantum physics, and you zoned out!" Pinkie said, looking mildly annoyed. "Oh... sorry." Sunset said. "Wait... quantum physics?" "Yep!" "She wasn't doing so bad explaining it, really!" Twilight said, adjusting her glasses... or putting them on? It could be either. The girls began to chat a little more, but Sunset was quiet most of the time. She wouldn't be so quiet if she didn't have so much on her mind at the moment. She could barely see the features of a face, and had trouble telling what exactly some people were doing sometimes, so how would she be able to function normally in public as soon as she left the hospital? She could still kind of see writing, but not very well, so how would she know what Princess Twilight is telling her whenever she sends a letter to Sunset? Questions flooded Sunset's mind, but most of all, she was a little terrified. This was all new to her, and she was just taking it all on in a whopping half-hour or so. Maybe she'd get used to it. Of course, she'd need some help. Thankfully, she had her friends. She could ask them to kind of guide her around if she ever needed it. Or, at least make a little noise so that she could see where she was going. They could help her tell who she was talking to, and other things like that. After moments of thinking, Sunset heard bawling from a woman and a little boy. Intense bawling, too. It wasn't her business, but she was still a little curious. Not wanting to start any trouble, she figured that she'd just ask Dr. Bright the next day. Hopefully she doesn't learn so much that she gets involved, though...
IIISunset woke up in her hospital room, her back aching from the discomfort of a crude hospital bed. She had fallen asleep surprisingly easily considering that she had been knocked out for three days straight, and the troubling thoughts about her new condition. All of Sunset's friends had gone home the previous night after about an hour of talking, leaving Sunset to her thoughts. She had been thinking for most of the night about how her ruined eyesight would affect her social life, and affect her socially. She opened her eyes, which would usually be hard to do since her eyes would normally adjust to the darkness from her closed eyes, but it was actually surprisingly easy. She felt nothing while opening her eyes, which was a relief to her. She usually hated the feeling she got whenever she opened her eyes. But maybe that was because of the pure blackness that she was seeing since the room was silent. She didn't like it when she couldn't see anything. Instead of laying there doing nothing, Sunset decided to try and sit up, and make as much noise as possible while doing so. Audio pulses began to come from her general direction as she sat up, making the cruddy bed creak. She was also rustling the sheets just to make a little more noise. As the room began to become outlined with white, Sunset noticed that her eyes still felt nothing. Maybe she had no feeling in her eyes anymore? Dr. Bright hadn't mentioned anything about that. Did he not know? Maybe Sunset was supposed to have feeling in her eyes? She hadn't noticed this before. It was actually a little bit of an upside to the situation from Sunset's perspective, however. Since she had no feeling in her eyes, she'd be able to do some cool-ish things. They didn't make much of a difference, but they'd still be pretty nice. She could now open her eyes without having any struggle doing so right after waking up. Along with that, she could probably keep her eyes open longer than usual. Although, she'd still have to try that one. Hopefully, it wasn't bad that she had no feeling in her eyes. Sunset then began to wonder what color her eyes were. She figured that they'd be light blue, like most other blind people's eyes. She wasn't sure, though. She hoped that her eyes would be the same teal that they were before. After a few seconds passed, everything began going black. Not wanting this, Sunset crawled on the hospital bed and towards the wall, and began to tap it. As the pulses returned, Sunset smiled a little bit. It wasn't the worst thing that could've happened, at least. She could've gone totally blind, unable to see at all. She could've even had to lose her eyes! She could put up with the blackness with white outlines, right? Sunset's positive chain of thought was interrupted when Rainbow Dash walked in, looking a little... shocked? "Hey, Sunset." She said. Her eyes were as wide as the sun, and she looked a little freaked out, even. Sunset couldn't see that, though. Sunset had to think of whose voice she just heard. When she realized it was Rainbow, she smiled wider than before. "Hi, Rainbow!" She said, trying to drown her worry with joy. "So... uh... I'm not sure that Applejack will be able to visit you today. Something crazy happened at the barn." Rainbow said. Sunset noticed that she sounded off. "Oh? What happened?" Sunset asked, her smile slightly fading. "It's... pretty messed up. I'm not sure that you can handle it. Even I can barely handle it, and I'm me! I can take on just about anything!" Rainbow said, a smirk growing on her face, but not big enough to hide the shocked expression that she had. Sunset couldn't see Rainbow's frown, but she could see her eyes. 'Huh... am I really getting better that fast?' She asked herself in her head. "It can't be too bad, right? I mean... well... what kind of messed up?" Sunset said, wondering if she actually did want to know. "Uh... how's 'gross', and 'bloody' for an answer?" Rainbow said, emphasizing 'bloody'. "Bloody?! Did someone get hurt?" Sunset asked, her own eyes widening as well. "Well... Applejack and her family are okay, but... it was something else. I'm not sure that telling you is the best idea, since.... uh... you kind of... are... what got hurt." Rainbow said, trying them think of ways to not tell Sunset what had happened. "I'm what got hurt?" Sunset asked, thoroughly confused. "Well... not you in specific... but your... species..." "My species?" "Look, are you fine with hearing it or not? I don't wanna tell you if you're gonna end up sick, or something." Rainbow said. "Is it really so bad that I'd get sick?" Sunset asked. "I don't know! You might?" Rainbow said, raising her voice. "Oh... sorry." Sunset said. "Ugh, look, I didn't mean to snap. It's just..." As Rainbow tried to think of what to say, Sunset spoke. "I'm fine with hearing about what happened. If it's bad, then I need to know what happened of I want to help Applejack and her family with the situation." Sunset said, softly smiling. "Are you sure? You might not-" Rainbow stopped for a moment. "You won't like it." Sunset nodded, still smiling, despite the fact that she was worried. "Is that a 'yes, I won't like it,' or a 'yes, I'm sure?'" Rainbow asked. "Yes, I'm sure." Sunset said. Rainbow must've been stalling. "Okay... here goes nothing..." Sunset forced all of her attention towards Rainbow. "One of the horses at the barn was found all... torn to pieces... this morning..." Sunset's mouth dropped. "W-what?" She asked. "Well, I told you! I mean... you're a horse, too, right?" Rainbow asked. "Just... in a human body. And magical. A magical horse. Right? Or... were you a pony?" "A horse was found... torn to pieces?! Not just dead... but torn to pieces?!" "And whoever did it made a big mess out of it, too. We saw it when there was a bunch of police line around the stables... and poor Fluttershy. She just passed out. Didn't even say anything." Rainbow said. "Why?! Who would do that?! Who has... such a terrible, terrible mind that it tears a poor horse to bits?!" Sunset said. "The cops don't know yet, but they said they'd find out and throw their sorry butts in prison." Rainbow said. "Wow... that's awful! It's sick, and disgusting, and... pretty much EVERYTHING bad that I can think of!" Sunset said, still stunned by the news. "Yeah. Oh, and it got really warm around that area, too. Warmer than everywhere else, anyway. Maybe it was just the... entrails... and stuff?" "Rainbow... I've heard enough. I don't need to hear about the entrails, too..." Sunset said. "Sorry." Rainbow said. "Oh, and the other girls might not show up today. They're worried about you, but they're also worried about AJ. I decided to head over so that you could have some company for at least a little bit, but the girls said that I should also help out with the whole situation over there... y'know? So... I might be leaving soon. We're gonna try and spend more time with you tomorrow, though, so don't worry!" Sunset just flopped onto her back, thinking about the news as she watched the pulses fly. It sickened her that someone would do such a thing. Even though Sunset was a pony rather than a horse, she was still equine. That just made it worse. And who had the strength to rip a horse apart?
