Rainbow Crush Side Story: The Tale Of Eyeless
To my best friend Soarin, if you are reading this then I’m now most likely blind, insane or dead. Let me elaborate we have been friends for as long back as I can remember, you were there for me when no pony else was; to be honest I don’t just consider you a friend but truly I consider you to be my brother and only relative.
That it why it pains me to tell you that I haven’t been fully honest with you, I’ve been keeping something from you since we entered this academy together and I am only revealing this to you now knowing that the worst most likely has already happened. Please don’t take this out on yourself, as the outcome was unavoidable and incurable; you would have not been able to help and I wouldn’t want you looking at me with a face full of pity, you’re my bother so please don’t cry over me as the time I had spent with you was the best time of my life, I hope you don’t hate me for keeping this from you for so long.
I wonder do you remember how we met? It was the day after Hearts Warming Eve, still quite chilly however to me it was just like any other day, I was roaming though the outskirts of Cloudsdale’s cloudbank challenging pegasi that crossed my path to a race; of course there was always a friendly wager of a few bits on the line, though I’m no gambler. I knew the clouds around the outskirts like I knew cutie mark, plus I had an amazing strategy it's quite simple really, I had my special gift, my all-seeing eyes, I would use them to my advantage; knowing every move what your opponent is going to make helps a lot in a race at least for an easy win and if the worst was to go wrong and I would lose or if someone caught in the act, well lets just say pegasi of a feather stick together. Don’t get me wrong I hated being a cheat, I hated fighting and I hated the other tramps as much as the next pony; but they were my family they were all I had, but I did what I had to do to survive. Have you ever wondered why so many of us pegasi grow up as orphans? It’s because of our natural instinct that we inherited from our fair-feathered cousin; much like many species of birds us pegasi have the impulse to survive and leave our young to defend for themselves once there able to fly it's why pegasi have the highest divorce rate among the three pony tribes.
I’m getting off track, it was the normal day I had challenged who I thought at the time was a bumbling buffoon to a race, well in some ways I guess I was right. Still I didn’t count on you being so fast or so good in a fight, as you can probably remember now, you easily beat me by a mile not only that but after I called my tramp card over you challenged all for of use to a fight. At the time I thought you were crazy, however that was before I was laying flat on my rump with a rather bloodied nose. I didn’t expect to loose like that, I didn’t expect you to beat not only me but three of the scariest tramps that I knew in a fight, even more I didn’t expect what you did next, I couldn’t believe what you were doing; you were extending your hoof out to me and the others as if you were our long-term friend and then congratulating me on a good race and a fun fight, you were truly an odd colt.
It wasn’t long before you wanted to race again and again and sigh… again, be it your reluctance to leave me alone once you had figured out my little gift or because you just don’t take buck-off for an answer I’ll never no. But it was thanks to you that I gained my first true friend and it was also thanks to you that I was soon able to gain access to the Wonderbolt academy though you're unrelenting perseverance, I finally had somewhere to call home. We have always been there for each other, like the time you were trying to get a date with that apple earth pony, oh what was her name ah yes it was Apple Fritter; so you dragged me along as your wing pony and you got me to read her mind for you and help you give all the right answers. I still laugh at the fact that in the end she slapped you calling you a stalker, I guess there is such a thing as knowing too much about a pony. There is also the time that you helped me improve my endurance for the our first years last flight test, can't believe in the end
I came forth in that years ranking due to your help. Finally how could either of use ever forget the countless hours… no days you spent helping search for my parents, it’s a shame we never found them… well to be honest I guess this is what this letter is all about.
I finally found my parents roughly two months before we entered the academy together, it is also the reason I was even able to attend this academy; but let me start from the beginning. It was a blazing hot summers day when I was going about my usual routine around the outskirts hustling those that I could swindle, fighting over anything valuable and just harassing anypony I crossed paths with, by Celestia how time changes a pony. It was around noon when a gray pegasus stallion dressed to formally for the rough part of town he was strolling down, a few of the street rats were about to jump him from behind for his valuables; I think he realized this and turned his head to face, after that he looked towards me and continued his stride carrying himself without the slightest bit of fear or hesitation. He trots up to me like looks me dead in the eye and asked me one thing
“Are you the one they call Switch?”
I sat there somewhat dumbfounded before I could digest what he had said; the gray stallion asked me the question again in a sterner tone
“Are you or are you not the one they call Switch!”
I nodded like a buffoon; his question came as a shock to me not because of his demeanor but because I couldn’t only read one thing from the look on his face and that being one of annoyance. This stallion walked into the toughest part of town and he wasn’t scared but annoyed, for the first time I didn’t want to mess with somepony, the gray pony handed me a ceiled envelope and then without another word walked back the way he came.
Without a seconds noticed I looked at the envelope and what I saw written on the front of it almost brought a tear to my eye, it had in graceful hoofwriting with a golden link something I would never see nor find out; it was my family name, the name that linked me to my lineage and it read.
‘To Switch Eyeless’
My last name is Eyeless can you believe it Soarin? All the time we spent searching and my name was a bucking brand of camera, for Celestia’s sake when I had stolen at least four cameras with that brand name and sold them on for copper bits. After recovering from my momentary shock I opened the letter all that was inside was a key and a safe number both which belonged to the Cloudsdale city bank, this brought up an uneasy feeling I never had a reason to go too a bank before; I wondered if they would even let me in. Later that day I traveled to the bank, I trotted up the steps getting looks from everypony I passed, most likely due to my disheveled appearance as well as my reputation among the cities residence I didn’t earn the nickname Off Switch for nothing after all. I was about to enter the bank when a tall bulky Guard comes up to me; I was expecting to be turned away before he spoke up
“Switch Eyeless?”
I managed to chock out a simple “Yes sir” At which point he gestured for me to follow him and with a humbling tone,
“Good sir right this way, we have been expecting you”.
Again I wouldn’t have imagined such a thing I needed answers so I fired them at him as fast as I could “Why were you expecting me? Who are my parents? And what in Celestia’s name does this key open?”
Without batting an eye he replied in a slightly annoyed tone,
“Your father was Obscure Eyeless the inventor of the camera obscura and your mother was a famous photographer named Photo Finish, lastly we were expecting you as part of a payment plan set up my your parents long ago; it took some time to find you.”
I was slightly confused my his wording, so once more I pried for answers, “So where can I find them?” His entire body posture and professional demeanor were shut down at that question with a weary face he looks me in the eyes and asks,
“Sir you do know why you are here don’t you?”
I simply shook my head; at that he sighed and he looked saddened and sympathetic, for the first time since I had started talking to the stallion he acutely seemed like a real pony and not just some Guard dog.
The Guard then took me to a quiet room and brought me in a cup of tea and some bisects, another pony also followed him into the room; she had a golden mane and her wings looked polished like silver, she sat down on the chair opposite me. She started up the conversation first
“So I presume your Mr. Switch?”
I nodded at that, yes that would be me before enquiring” Yes I am and where is my family? I demand to see them at once!” I was getting rather angry at being run around like greyhound, the mare took on the same expression of pity that the Guard was still wearing again I barked them” What the hell is going on?”
The woman spoke up
“Switch, I don’t know how to break this to you so I shall say it as frankly as possible; both your parents are dead, your mother passed away roughly two years ago during a photo shoot and your father recently succumbed to his illness around a month ago”.
I sat their motionless scared to even breath, fearing that my next exhale of breath could shatter the nightmare of a reality I was in, she noticed my expression and shaking form, so the mare tried to comfort me with what little she could say which would have any relevance or meaning.
“We tracked you down to give you your inheritance, approximately the sum of eight hundred thousand bits as well as some literature they had left for you”
I was angry and more enraged than I had ever been, I knocked the cup of tea they had given me off the table and screamed “You think I give a flying buck about some worthless bits, I have lived on the streets my entire life, I have seen more ponies die in the cold then I have had bits to my name; bits are hollow to me, I couldn’t care how many you wish to give me; I came here to find a mothers love, I came here to play catch with my father, I came here to hug them both dearly. Tell me can you give me that?”
Both of them were had on socked and heartbreaking expressions, I was hiding one under a wave on anger and once that ocean of fury that had filled up for as long I can remember was let out; I curled up into a ball and sobbed to myself for what seemed like hours. The Guard and the mare both left me to my thoughts, which were empty seemingly flattened by the powerful wave of shock, rage and sadness I had experienced; when they finally returned my emotions were nothing more than a pile of tattered stings, I only looked at them and with what little I could process I asked them to take me to my safe so I could collect my inheritance and leave. They escorted me to my safe which I then proceeded to open, what laid inside was the promised currency of roughly eight hundred thousand bits as well as two hoof written books most likely diaries. I went into the safe grabbing the hardback and a hooful of coins, I then placed nine thousand bits into account that I linked up to the Wonderbolt academies intuition fee and I put the rest of the money into a savings account.
I left the bank that day with ha secured future and the answers I seeked in hoof, after a half an hour trotting around the center of Cloudsdale I found an inn that would host me; I collapsed on a springy and lumpy mattress however it was the first good night’s sleep I had ever had. I woke up the next morning with more questions than could be answered, however I had two books that might give me some insight into my families past so I grabbed them, a bowl of oats and a cup of coffee and I spent the next few hours reading though them with intense scrutiny; what I discovered would change my life forever. The cover of the first book titled My Diary and in a badly hoof written scribble was the name of the once owner ‘Sir Mendicant Eyeless’, I opened the book and turned to the first page to see more almost illegible handwriting but something that took me by surprise there was a date at the top of the sheet ‘19/11/124 CY’,This couldn’t be real all documents from that era were lost; if the date was to be believed the book was written only one year before the one hundredth fifth Celestial Year, this was before the time of BN or Before Nightmare the era before the dark ages. Mendicant Eyeless was the very first Eyeless, my jaw hung open as I read what was written on the page.
‘Dear diary I write this as my new self whom has a new name that of Sir Mendicant Eyeless, my earlier name being simply Mendicant, I gained this new name as well as new-found site though a rather unfortunate encounter; however I best start from the beginning Celestia knows my mind isn’t fully together at the moment. It all started roughly two weeks ago a few days before Hearts Warming Ever, it was a cold day when the most beautiful voice I had ever heard crossed my path; it was the voice of a noble mare hear wings flapped sending the most sensual of perfumes wafting past me, the mare trotted up to me as she graced me with her words, she said in the most delicate tone.
“Happy Hearts Warming”
She dropped a few copper in my cup and then trotted off, I had never been so envious of those with sight. I asked a fellow beggar who that mare was to which he replied,
“That there was Ms. Golden Oak hear family are a bunch of nobles that run a kind of publishers in a small town just past of Canterlot”
I thanked the stallion for the information, titled my head once more in her direction hoping to hear that angelic voice again however not another word came from her, I had never felt a sense of longing like this before. That night I had a horrifying dream something that had never happened anypony that I know of, although it did tell me something it showed me a way to get everything I had ever wanted. Over the next week I traveled to the castle of the Two Sisters, it was a rather hard journey but I had made it in time, it was the night of the full moon and Princess Luna would be holding a night court as she did every full moon; I was surprised to find that I was the only pony that had come that evening to see her, one of the Guard s informed me that everypony had been too afraid to see the Princess of the night for weeks now he spoke
“She has had a bad temper for weeks now, I wouldn’t go and see her unless you fancy getting castrated”,
I ignored his remark and pressed on as I had come so far already I wasn’t going to be turned away. As I entered the audience I could feel the encroachment of the cold dark night, which was strange as it was a warm evening outside, however this didn’t faze me. Once I had taken a few steps into the room a genital and royal voice called me over to be seen.
“Greetings my dear subject of the night, what brings thou to my domain? Also state your name!”
I was hesitant the voice seemed a bit venomous as if there was something unhidden in the shadows of herself; eventually I spoke up. “Your Majesty my name is Mendicant I come to you so that I might beg for a wish, I was told as a colt that if I see and wish upon a star my dreams might come true; yet I cannot see the starts to make a wish, but I could come before the Princess of the night that paints the sky every night.”
The Princess was silent as if pondering my reply for a second before she spoke again
“And what would thou wish be?”
I knew she would never grant me a wish for something so lavish and wasteful, but I believed she might if I was to take advantage of her well-known jealous and prideful nature so I stated my request
“I wish to see your glorious night in all its detail, I will need to be able to see and enough money to by a telescope so that I might be able to marvel at the sky.”
The Princess was soundless for what felt like minuets not even her breaths were audible like they were before, the room got colder to the point of being truly freezing and the darkness I don’t know how to fully explain it but the shadows felt alive as if they became something that could reach out and grab me; finally the Princess vocalized once more, but this wasn’t the same mare I was talking to a second ago, her voice sounded as bitter as the room around me demonic and toxic in nature it was if her word were going to physically bite me.
“DO THOU TAKE ME FOR A FOOL?”
I quickly replied scared for my life “No your Majestic… I mean Majesty”, She didn’t stop her verbal attack,
“DO THOU THINK YOU COULD SWINDLE ME?”
Again I replied without hesitance “No your Grace” I was physically shaking and I believe it must be raining outside as their was a small puddle developing at my feet, I heard foots steps as she drew nearer to me to the point where she must have stood right in front of me; I would have galloped off as fast as my legs could carry me, however I was frozen in place by her presence she questioned me once again
“THEN WHY DOES THOU SPOUT SUCH BOLD FACED LIE’S TO MY FACE?”
I was on the verge of crying but I mustered up the resolve to answer her “I’m in love!” everything fell silent once again before the beast standing before me broke out into an insidious laughter, it then proceeded to lift me up with its magic and throw me across the room again it walked up to me slowly; I tried to scramble to my feet but I was too scared to move, the monster was at my hooves in a matter of seconds at which point it sneered at me once more
“HOW PATHETIC THOU ISN’T EVEN WORTH KILLING, I SHALL CURSE THEE’S WISH SO THAT THOU MIGHT GET THE NOBLE MARE THOU HAS BEEN PINING FOR IN HIS DREAMS AND I DUB THEE SIR MENDICANT EYELESS NOW BE GONE.”
After it had said those last words my eyes begin to burn, I blinked and rubbed them endlessly to try to take away the pain; soon enough the stinging was gone, as I opened my eyes and I saw for the first time the monster that stood in front of me, it was the Princess and yet not our majestic Luna, it coat was the darkest thing I had ever seen and its teeth were sharp as broken glass. That was all the imagery I dared to take in as I bolted from the castle hoping to escape the thing that had stood in front of me. On my way out of the castle the Guard that had stopped before did so again, but this time instead of talking to me he just offered me a bag of bits and after taking it from him I continued at full gallop towards the town off in the distance; I could only see the stars and the rough outlines of the forest as it was as dark out as my earlier visual impairment, as I made it to the nearest one night in I couldn’t help but smile knowing that I had won I had gained my wish of eyesight, a noble title and enough money to be of noble status, nevertheless I was unsettled over her choice of words.
The next day I awoke to something that terrified me to my very core, my cutie mark had been replaced with a repulsive looking blue eye no matter how I looked at it; it always seemed to be staring back at me. After coming to my senses I ventured down to the neatest restraint to grab something to eat before I would undertake my joinery back to Cloudsdale; I soon found one in the small town however as I entered the establishment, I was met with the most peculiar site a zebra and a griffin both arguing with a waiter although they were speaking a two different foreign dialects, this only seemed to exacerbate the situation nevertheless I tried to help resolve it.
As I came face to face with the odd pair something incredible happened, even though it sounded as if they were presently speaking gibberish when I looked at hem somehow I understood what they were saying, it was as if I was reading their very thoughts. Now knowing what they were I was able to quickly resolve the situation as well as make two friends in the long run, it turns out that they had both traveled to the town on a diplomatic mission but they were rather lost; I pointed them in the right direction and bit them farewell. I felt like I had to record these extraordinary events however I had never written or read in my life, but to my surprise I could now read and write whatever I wanted though my hoofwriting could use some improvement. Having documented my thoughts and what had happened over the last few days I made my journey back to Cloudsdale.’
I was in shock I couldn’t believe what I had just read, it was impossible but I couldn’t stop reading the book seemed to draw me in some how, I turned to the next page where to my surprise the hoofwriting was different and the page was dated ‘11/6/133 CY’ which came as even more astounding, this book survived the revolution and the dark ages and even saw another owner; somepony must have gone to astonishing lengths so protect this book during the mass book burnings that took place during Nightmare Moons rule before her banishment by Celestia. I continued reading knowing not what I would discover about my heritage.
‘Dear diary my name is Silver Eyeless and two days ago my father Sir Mendicant Eyeless took his own life after a long-term battle with an unknown illness that afflicted his eyes, but I am starting to speculate after reading his badly written notes that he might have suffered from a blood curse cast upon him by the dark mare herself; it would explain his hallucinations and how he always went on about a gray stallion who stalked him wherever he went, it scared my entire family as no matter how many times we looked, no matter how many times the police were called we could never find this mysterious stallion, in the last years of my father's life he frantically traveled from town to town trying to our run this gray stalker; until the day that he returned home he seemed defeated and as he said his loved us, he handed me this old book then started to make his way to the room opposite us were he collapsed; we called a doctor however we knew he was already dead. I spent the next few months trying to uncover as much as I could about such curses, I looked though countless books, scrolls, manuscripts and talked to all way of ponies, griffins and even zebras; even with my talent of being able to understand any thing and being able to read the minds of anyone I wished to, all my efforts seemed wasted so I soon gave up and just went about my life as usual. That is until the day a knock came from our door, I went to answer it and stood there in front of me was a well dressed gray stallion; I almost had a heart attack then and their, but I quickly regained my composure I asked the stallion what he wanted he didn’t say a word, all he did was hand me a letter I bid him good day and closed the door. Later that evening when I head the nerve I finally opened the letter and what was written inside turned my blood cold
‘My name is Gray how do you do? I came from Tartarus only to hunt you, my presence is contagious like the flu, but I travel though blood your special home-brew, every day I shall become one step closer too, until the day I reach out and grab then I’m afraid your time is due.’
I had never felt such fear in my life this will be my last entry as I do not wish to spend the rest of my life fearing death, I shall face him head on when the time comes.’
A chill when up my spine reading the last few sentences of that entry, because if I was correct id already met Gray and that would mean my countdown had started. But I wasn’t going to give up without a fight I read the rest of the notes found within the book that spanned over ninety generations of Eyeless, my research into this book wasn’t a total waste as I did found out some facts about Gray. Fact one Gray can only be seen by the one Eyeless that is cured, Fact two only one Eyeless gains the curse per generation and it's always the first-born, Fact three there is no way to kill Gray, Fact four once Gray has delivered you a package the countdown to your death has started, Fact five you can brake the curse for yourself and stop the advance of Gray but removing your eyes, once this has been done a note will appear beside you which would read
‘Thank you for your payment love Gray’,
Oh and Fact six you can pass the curse on by having a child who gets their cutie mark before Gray catches you and if you succeed you will get a letter that reads,
‘How very heartless thank you love Gray’.
Over the ninety generations of Eyeless only fifteen generations survived the curse, of which only five of them removed their eyes, their know telling how many of them had children just to pass on the curse.
Their was one diary left and on its cover was my furthers name, I picked it up and as I opened it up a letter fell out and to my horror it was singed by Gray; out of sheer rage I throw both the books into an open fire and I am sorry to say that over the past few years the Gray has gotten ever closer I don’t know how long I have left, but I am at least happy that I am the one that this curse will die with. I’m not sure yet but I think I would be ok being blind as long as you would come visit me from time to time either way I only have three options and I’m not going to pass this curse on and I’m not ready to die just yet. Lastly Soarin thank you for always being there for me, I have left you in my will and I know you always get hungry when you are sad so I baked you an apple pie is in the fridge perhaps consider it a parting gift.
Soarin sat down at the table were he found a hidden letter written by his friend Switch, he originally snuck into Switch’s room to raid his fridge where he had found and devoured an apple pie; he didn’t expect to stumble upon this letter and he was now profusely sobbing covering the letter with tears and pie crumbs. He didn’t know what he could do or if he could do anything, however he knew one thing and that was his friend wouldn’t be facing the Gray stallion alone anymore.
