Later in the Afternoon

I had spent the better portion of the day around Twilight and Spike, though I never directly got in their way as best I could. I had gotten accustomed to the guitar that Twilight had lent me and with Spike’s help, had managed to write out the entirety of Hallelujah for the sake of properly learning as a choir or something for future performances.

Having gotten bored of that activity, I began to regale both Twilight and Spike with stories of my own design; one being where there was a hub world that operated and played like a video game -I then went on to explain what video games were in my world and Spike instantly fell in love with the concept.

I still didn’t remember much else important from my past and as Twilight and I went on trying to restore my memory, the more I found it vanishing with the only comfort I truly had laid in the figurine of Rainbow Dash.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, a knocking at the door alerted everyone within the building to the arrival of a newcomer.

“Hey, Twi. Hey, Spike.” Dash called as she let herself into the place. The door was still placed behind me so her voice had me twist around to greet her with a ‘look’. “Hey you.”

“Hi back. Done work?” I twisted back to normal as the sound of hooves told me she’d come around towards me.

“Nah, skipped work after cloud recycling duties were over- Of course I’m off work.” Rainbow snapped back but sighed immediately after. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It was just…” she let out a groan of frustration. “It was hectic at work today, we’re preparing for the first big snowfall in a couple weeks time and we’re seriously behind schedule.”

“What exactly is it you do?” I narrowed an eye in curiosity at the light that was Rainbow’s flame. “Because I have no idea.”

“I work weather control. You want a warm sunny day, I’m your girl. Rain storms across the town, call me up!” Dash announced, sounding proud of herself. “On top of that, I’m aiming to join the Wonderbolts one day!”

“I have no idea what that is.” I replied, my voice dull and clueless as I was.

“Royal Air Force, sort of.” Twilight called back from the kitchen. She was apparently preparing something for Dash and I for our outing and I wasn’t allowed to know what it was until after she’d finished it. “They’re more of a show group than military installation.”

“So like the Blue Angels back on my world, got it.” my conclusion drew a sound of confusion from Rainbow, whatever that sounded like, so I added in more, “Celebrity Fighter Pilots who performs at stunt shows or air shows for thousands of people every year.”

“Oh, right, sure.” Dash didn’t sound like she understood anything I had just said, but passed it off regardless and hopped up onto my lap, her breath on my face suggesting she was staring me down. “So, what’re we gonna do together? Have a race? Work out? Oh! I know! There’s a-” Rainbow’s suggestion was cut off by Twilight who entered.

“How about you show him that little location by the lake nearby? The one with that single large tree you like to nap in? You could do some stunting for him, he’ll be able to watch the light in you.” she suggested as a relatively heavy object landed on the couch next to me. “And take that, I don’t need either of you coming back for a couple hours. I’ve got studying to do.”

“But… But Twilight! That’s not… that’s a…” Rainbow began to protest, however I cut both mares off by clamping my hand over Dash’s muzzle and stood up, picking the pony up, pegasus, like I would a small dog and carried her under my arm with the… basket? In my left hand.

“Come on, it’s apparent that Twilight Sparkle doesn’t want us here so there’s no point in sticking around. Besides, the location doesn’t really matter to me given that I can’t see anything.” I announced as I aimed us towards the door with a wriggling pony in my grasp.

“Hey! Let me go!” Dash demanded and squirmed free. The lack of landing had me conclude that she’d taken to her wings and was now flying alongside me. “Come on, it’s a ways away from here so don’t get lost.” she added in grumbling.

“You’re leading me, don’t let me get lost.” I retorted light-heartedly and shifted the basket from my left hand to my right as we stepped out into the mid-afternoon air.

~~~

A relatively short walk later and Dash notified me that we’d reached our location. Setting me down somewhere where there was shade, I set to the task of slowly digging through the basket to see what was inside and hoping for a blanket or something to lay down on.

“To the left,” Rainbow instructed from next to me, apparently watching what I was doing. “No, those’re the sandwiches. A little more left and down. You should feel it right there.”

“All I feel is the bottom of the basket, Rainbow.” I sighed back and continued rummaging. Of course, this was all in the idea that Twilight had packed us a blanket or equivalent in the first place.

“Yeah I know, I’m just messing with ya!” she burst into a short fit of laughter before collecting herself with heavy breaths. “Alright, I’m gonna go hit the water while you set up and get acquainted with that basket. Lake’s directly ahead of you if you follow the downward gradient of the hill we’re on.”

“Very well, don’t leave me to die out here. I’ll be more than a little put off if you do.” I requested as I began to just pull everything out of the woven container to get a feel for what it probably was.

“What, are you going to haunt me if I do?” Dash teased as her voice suggested she was getting further and further away.

“Better believe it. You can’t kill me, I’ll just keep coming back to terrorize you. And since I’ve seen things, I know I can make your life a living hell.” I warned in return, unintentionally making the warning more hostile than I’d intended to.

“Okay, geez, threat noted!” Rainbow’s voice suddenly took off to the air and disappeared altogether. Once I finally reached the bottom of the basket, I finally found what felt like cloth and worked at trying to spread it out over the ground once everything else was back in for safekeeping.

***

“Stupid Twilight, has to pack us a picnic and send us to the number one date spot in Ponyville…” Rainbow mumbled to herself as she glided on the warm air rising from the evaporating lake. “It’s not like I even like the guy, dude carries a statue of me in his pocket!” her continued grumbling was going to take a turn for silence as soon as she got high enough into the air to begin her suicide dive into the lake. She’d practised this particular move at least a dozen times already, in preparation for emergency landings into bodies of water. “I still don’t even know where he got that statue of me in the first place!”

Still, Rainbow Dash had to consider her earlier motivations for silently watching the human that morning and even going so far as to try and mimic some of his exercises. Apparently the soldiers on his world worked out just as hard, if not harder than the Royal Guard did here in Equestria and it showed in his physical capabilities.

Rainbow would never admit it to anyone if they asked, and certainly would never talk about this to anyone other than her pillow that night, but she had had trouble keeping up with the human when he was doing his push-ups only on his hands. Her limited range of motion from being a quadruped had stifled her ability to keep up during the squats and she’d already completed her morning wing-ups before meeting up with him.

Watching him had been a moment of endearment for her. She was completely aware that his working out, his glistening skin as he sweated and the overpowering pungency of his odour had actually managed to get her somewhat hot and bothered. That was the reason for her having such a hard day at work, not the coming snow storm. That was also the reason why, and thank Celestia that the human couldn’t actually see this, Rainbow had found herself blushing every time her eyes drifted south.

That being said, this coming drop into the cool waters of the lake would be a god-send to Rainbow; hoping it would act the same as a very cold shower.

That was the plan, anyways, if it wasn’t for the sudden crippling cramp that had Rainbow’s left wing freeze up and spasm.

“No, no no no no no!” Rainbow demanded as she began to drop altitude like a rock. “Come on, don’t give up on me now!” she pleaded as she fought to restore flight with her hooves by massaging as much of her wing as she could. Unfortunately, the cramp just had to have originated in the joint, right where it was impossible to reach without a second pair of hooves attached to another body.

Flaring out her good wing, Rainbow aimed herself towards the lake as best she could. She’d prepared for this, this whole dive was the culmination of months of emergency dive practices, so this would be easy. Right? Letting out a brief scream of effort laced with minute traces of terror, Rainbow’s ears caught the sound of a pair of miniature explosions from the shore where she’d left the human.

A body rammed itself into her though a pair of arms wrapped themselves protectively around her body and pulled her entire form into the chest of the arm’s owners, just as she was put on her back and skimmed across the lake a few feet before the combined weight of her and the human plunged them both into the cold waters, knocking the air from her lungs just in time for her lungs to welcome the cold embrace of watery death.

***

The scream was sudden and ear splitting. I had just a moment of time to look up and notice how quickly Dash’s light was falling, and judging from the scream, it wasn’t part of the stunt. Vaulting up from where I laid on the blanket, I don’t know what in hell possessed me to do so, but I thrusted my hands to my side like that of Ironman and let my will take over from there.

I took off like a rocket as my hands literally exploded off my arms, leaving them stumps which would be used to catch the light of Rainbow Dash just over what I hoped to god was actually the lake. See, thing is, I had absolutely no idea if she was going to crash into the water, or create a thunderous crater while the splatter of her body coated and fertilized the terrain. Therefor, I had only one option: to wrap her in my protective embrace as much as I could and allow myself to potentially suffer a seventh death if it meant saving her.

It seemed that we were over water as my head caught the surface of the cold fluids beneath us and flipped us over onto my back where we took to skidding over the surface for a couple feet before drag caught up with us and plunged us into the water. Keeping my hold on Rainbow’s body without hands was somewhat difficult, and I was sure that the both of us would end up covered in blood by the end of this, but as soon as we were no longer moving I took to paddling upwards towards what gravity told me was the surface as quickly as I could.

Breaching the surface with lungs burning, I hoisted Rainbow’s unconscious body high enough against my own that I could keep her head above water while being able to swim backwards with all the power that my soldier body could afford me.

Once my stump of an arm, correction, hand of that of a one year old, touched the sand of the beachhead, I stood myself up and carried Dash’s body further out of the water as the liquids drenching our respective coverings (be it fur or cloth) ran free to the point of dripping.

Laying Dash’s body down on soft grass, I placed my ear against her mouth to check for breath but found nothing. Setting her on her side, I extended Rainbow’s neck as much as it would go and placed my tiny hand against one of her nostrils. I seriously was not looking forward to this next bit but fuck it. Sucking in a deep breath, I pushed as much air into Rainbow’s nose as I could before moving to her back and trying to find where the air was being gathered; figured that was where the lungs were.

Hand over hand, I found the general mark and began compressions for a minute before checking for breathing. Repeating the back and forth of CPR regarding air supply and compressions, I soon had Rainbow coughing up water and spasming just as I was pushing air back into her lungs again.

Sitting back to let Rainbow recover, I draped my arms over my knees to catch my own breath while Dash collected herself and began her recovery.

“I-” Rainbow paused to cough up another lungful of water and mucus. “I thought I was going to die!”

“Nah, soldiers never let their friends die without a fight. I may be blind, but all I needed was a scream and the falling of your flame.” I explained and flopped backwards with arms wide open to ‘stare’ up at the sky and recover myself. “Lost my hands, though.”

“I see that, thanks…” Rainbow replied as her voice began to grow nearer and nearer. “Look, seriously, thank you for saving my life at the cost of your hands.” the weight of Rainbow Dash presented itself to my chest as she laid herself out on my body, her head right up near to mine; the breath from her lungs on my face was reassuring to say the least.

“Nah, losing my hands really isn’t that big a problem. They’re already growing back in.” I replied with the best casual shrug I could muster given the position. To add to my point I placed my hands against her back and began stroking her fur, both reassuring her and working the water from the hairs.

“But still, losing your hands can’t have been painless.” Rainbow whispered back as her rapid heartbeat paced against my own and seemed to be growing quicker. “So… let me thank you...”

“How do you plan to do-” I was cut short by a pair of lips against my own and my eyes expanded at the sudden motion.

Music of choice

As though on cue from some kind of dress rehearsal, my world exploded around me as colours and light flooded my vision all at once; the blackness of my world immediately and suddenly shifting into an explosion of white before my eyes managed to adjust to the new information and dimmed everything back down again.

The green grass.

The isolated oak tree off to my right with a picnic set out in the shade of is emerald green leaves. The brown of the bark as it sheltered the health from the weather of years gone by.

The brilliant blue of the water from the nearby lake that I’d just brought a pony back from and the fine sand that lined the beachhead for a couple kilometres in both directions before they shifted into sheer cliffs dotted with more trees.

The cyan fur covering the head of the pony kissing me and the prismatic hair weighed down by lake water. The remarkably larger flame that seemed to burn in Dash’s chest. Whereas the flame was about the size of my palm before, it now burned with the size of Rainbow’s head.

“Dash…” I broke away from the pony and stared directly into her eyes, her closed eyes, in astonishment. “Wait.”

“I’m sorry, I know I should’ve have.” Rainbow sighed back and turned away to stare at my left. “It won’t happen-” I cut the mare short with a hand on her mouth to hold it closed and turned her back to face me. Dropping my hand as her red eyes expanded, “You have green eyes.”

“And you have red eyes. And blue fur.” I replied just as slowly as Rainbow Dash had. “You look exactly like the figurine.”

“You can actually see me?” Rainbow gasped at the revelation and got up close to stare at my eyes. “You can see?”

“I can see…” I whispered back and sat up suddenly which catapulted Dash off me to look around for more detail. We were laid out on a tiny hill between the lake and the tree, nothing more than a mere increment in the terrain height. “This world… It’s…”

“How can you see now?” Rainbow demanded, pulling me from my thoughts and exploration though it didn’t work for long as I held up my toddler hands to grin like an idiot and burst into a fit of laughter at the ridiculous size they were at.

“Look at my hands!” I cackled like a child. “They’re fucking tiny! Like a KFC spork!” My eyes drifted down to my shirt and noted how the black material had been caked in mud and drying sand. “I’m a mess! Look at me! I’m a fucking mess!”

“How can you see again?” Dash demanded once again, taking my face in her hooves to stare me down with an angry glare.

“Who fucking cares! I can see again!” I declared with a maniacal cackling that would’ve likely sent me to the loony bin back on Earth, because fuck me if I was somehow still on Earth! This location was simply too breathtaking to be a Terran location!

Standing up, I took off at a dead sprint towards the tree just because I could see where the fuck I was going without tripping over something. Sliding to a halt next to the picnic, I aimed back towards the figure of a confused Rainbow Dash laying on the ground and took off in a runner’s sprint aimed for her. She let out a startled shriek when I dived over her and front flipped to land on my feet, but spun so my back was up and willed gravity to stop me sooner than I should with fists at my side.

A small explosion, the sound of a jet engine firing at maximum burn, put increased force on my arms and stopped me almost immediately. Standing to inspect what was going on, I held my fists up to find a pair of nearly white flames shooting out from rotating white holographic seals just over my closed fingers.

“Ooh, magic!” I grinned and raised both hands up to get a better look. They certain felt hot to my face and smelled like something burning and after a burst of will to increase the flame, the small engines obeyed and nearly cost me my arms at the sudden increased force applied to my tiny hands. “So that’s what it looks like!”

“You can use magic too?” Rainbow looked completely lost now, her wonderfully red irises wide with amazement.

Containing a deep laughter in my throat I aimed my fists to the ground and pushed the extra force into my arms again, making me shoot off upwards all at once. I felt like I was on cloud nine at this point and I would be insane to give up on this just yet. Circling around the lake a few times, I felt the force in my arms suddenly dry up just as I came in overhead over Rainbow’s position. The magic ceased and I plummeted like a rock.

I knew what would happen next, I’d hit the ground and put a spike my head again. I’d lose my eyes all over again and return to blindness.

So, here we go. I curled over onto my back at the last second and hit the ground feet first, digging out a good divot from the ground as I bounced back and flew for a few hundred more feet before hitting the ground again and getting stopped by the one tree in the area for a kilometre squared.

Ending up upside down in the tree I watched, watched, as Rainbow Dash galloped hard towards me, freaking out.

“Hey! Are you alright?” she called ahead. I was too elated to really feel the agony that would surely catch up with me in a moment, but I could definitely feel the familiar cold grip of death over my soul.

“Yeah,” I coughed back with a lungful of blood and probably my spleen, “Give me fifteen and I’ll be good.”

“Fifteen? Why-”

Author's Note

No, In case you missed it last chapter, Soren's not meant to stay blind. I can't write a very good story without being able to describe what's actually going on through the eyes of a blind character.