Irreplaceable

"Rainbow, are you sure about this?" Twilight asked as she stood still, facing the direction her fiance had faced her. The pegasus had moved about ten feet away from her.

"Yes, Twi, I'm sure. All you have to do is walk straight forward to me," Explained Rainbow with a confident smile for her princess, "Now come on!"

Twilight stood there shakily, a frown on her face. They were no longer in the castle, but in the yard behind the crystal building.

After a few moments of hesitation, she started to step forward but then retreated and stamped her hoof on the floor, her fear momentarily melting to frustration, "This is stupid! I know how to walk!"

"Then this should be easy for you. Now come here," Rainbow instructed with slight sternness in her voice. Twilight sighed, she knew that one way or the other, Rainbow was going to make her follow her given instructions. Biting her lip, she shakily took a single step forward, before stopping again.

"Promise it's just a straight line? Nothing is in front of me?"

"I promise. Have I ever lied to you?"

"Yes, actually. Several times," Twilight said sharply, narrowing her eyes as she remembered times the brash pegasus had pranked her through lies. Like the time she found a snake in the garden. Rainbow promised her it was fake, but when she went to pick it up, it hissed at her and caused Twilight to run inside and hide in her room crying. She was terrified of snakes, and Rainbow had known that.

Then there was the time Rainbow had given her "fruit punch," at a Nightmare Night party, which turned out to be extremely spicy hot sauce. Rainbow slept on the couch for that one. Of course, those were just a couple times, but those were just a small pick of many.

As Rainbow stared at Twilight she seemed to read her mind and a blush formed on her face, "Okay, maybe I have a few times, but only when I'm pranking you. This is serious." Twilight sighed again and finally gave in.

"Okay...I trust you," She replied before taking another deep breath and began to slowly walk forward. She stumbled slightly but was able to regain her composure without assistance, and was able to make her way to Rainbow.

"And...stop," Rainbow smiled, "See! What'd I tell ya?"

"Yeah yeah...Where are you?" She asked as she reached her hoof out to feel for Rainbow's hoof, who smiled and took Twilight into her hooves with a giggle.

"Right here next to you, and I always will be," Rainbow replied as she nuzzled Twilight's muzzle with her own. Once again, the alicorn felt her face heat up. She pulled away from Rainbow slightly, while still staying in her arms.

"You're so cheesy, you know that?"

"Only for you," Rainbow retorted. Twilight could tell the pegasus was smirking from the tone in her voice.

Applejack stared at the blueprints in front of her, rubbing her temple with a hoof, "Hey there AJ, need any help?" Starlight asked as she approached her friend, Spike on her back.

"Well, ahm not really doin' anything yet. But with the way the stairs are, we're just gonna have to tear out the stairs completely and turn the whole thing into ramps. It'll be too difficult to split it."

"Well, it'll make things easier for everyone honestly," Spike commented as he hopped off Starlight's back and took a look at the blueprints, "Yeah, this'll work fine. When should we get started?"

"Well, I need to go get some tools first. You two wanna join me?"

"Sure!" The two announced together, and the three walked outside to find Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Twilight sitting in a small circle talking.

"We're runnin' to the hardware store and by the farm ta get some things. We'll be back."

"Need some bits?" Rainbow asked.

"Nah, I can handle it. Thank ya though," Rainbow nodded.

After the three left, both pegasi turned their attention back to the blind alicorn next to them, "Alright, now where were we?" Rainbow asked

"Still trying to get her around without falling," Fluttershy replied, and Rainbow nodded.

"Okay Twilight, let's try this again," Rainbow said as she helped her fiance stand up, before stepping away from her, while Fluttershy walked in a different direction, setting up a sort of track for the alicorn, "Come this way first Twi," Rainbow said, and Twilight nodded, turned to where she had heard Rainbow's voice, and began walking.

"Pinkie where did you go?" Rarity called as she walked through the shelves of the bookstore Rainbow had sent them too.

"Over here, Rares. I think I found a good book on teaching Braille!" She exclaimed with a smile. Rarity took the book gently from her marefriend with her magic and looked at the cover, "How to Teach Braille: A Guide for Teaching the Blind," Rarity read the cover a load with a smile, "Pinkie this is perfect for Rainbow! Meanwhile, I found some books I think Twilight will enjoy once she learns how to read in Braille," The unicorn smiled as she showed the small stack of books she held in her magic.

"Let's see," Pinkie started,"Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone, Daring Do and the Treck of the Terrifying Tower, Astronomy 101, The History of Olde Ponish, and Seeing the World My Way," Pinkie smiled, "These all sound like books she would love, but that last one...what's that one about?"

"I asked the mare at the register, and she said it's about a young mare who goes blind when she's only sixteen and learns how to still 'see' the world through her other senses. I just thought it would be a nice touch," Pinkie giggled and hugged Rarity.

"She's gonna love it! Now let's go get those sunglasses and get back to the castle!"

Twilight smiled as she entered the throne room for the second time that day, only this time, she was walking without much assistance. Rainbow walked on her left side and Fluttershy on the right, making sure she stayed walking straight, "Okay, Twi, you're almost to your chair," Rainbow said suddenly. Twilight only nodded. After five more steps, the pegasus spoke up again, "Okay, now turn to the right, take one step, turn to the left, then sit down."

Following her fiance's instructions, Twilight was slowly able to take her seat. She smiled at her accomplishment, "Good job, Twilight!" Fluttershy praised as she flew over and took a seat in her own throne.

"I couldn't have done all this without you girls, that's for sure," Twilight replied with a nervous smile. She went to say something else, but was cut off by her own gasp of fear as the door opened, "Who...?" She whispered, unable to continue her sentence.

"Just Rarity and Pinkie, darling," Rarity said as she walked over to the table that held the cutie map and silently placed the books and sunglasses on top of it. Rainbow and Fluttershy smiled, their joy proving contagious as it quickly spread to the unicorn and earth pony as well.

"Where's AJ, Starlight, and Spike?" Pinkie asked once she noticed that they were the only ones absent from the room.

"Getting supplies for the ramps. They've been gone for an hour now, so they should be back soon," Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow nodded in agreement, before turning to Twilight, having noticed her silence. When her eyes met the princess, she saw her staring straight ahead, looking lost in thought, "Are you okay, Twi?" She asked.

"...Huh?" The alicorn shook her head before turning her head toward her fiance's voice, "Oh...sorry, I was just...thinking. I'm sorry..."

"Oh it's okay, I was just making sure you were okay," Rainbow giggled as she approached Twilight and kissed her left cheek. The princess turned scarlet, just as she had every other time Rainbow kissed her around their friends.

Before anything else could be said, Applejack, Starlight, and Spike entered the room, each holding tools and supplies for the ramps, "Geez, that's a lot of stuff, AJ!" Pinkie commented with a giggle.

"Well, this castle had three staircases," Applejack deadpanned with a small smile.

"Right...well should we start with the one upstairs or downstairs?" Rainbow asked, tilting her head.

"Downstairs, that's the one she'll use the most," The country mare answered almost instantly.

"Great, before we do that though...hey Twi?" Rainbow asked as she turned her attention back to the alicorn next to her.

"Yes?"

"Remember when I said I sent Rarity and Pinkie to get you some things for me?"

"Yes...are you finally gonna tell me what it is?" Rainbow only smirked.

"Yes," She picked up the sunglasses first and slipped them on Twilight's face. The lavender mare flinched but didn't move much otherwise from the touch, "First, just some dark tinted glasses so in public nopony will know unless you want them too," Rainbow began as she pulled away and smiled, the glasses fit perfectly and didn't look too bad on her. Twilight smiled, "Now the main thing, is this," Rainbow continued as she picked up one of the books in Braille at random and opened it. Then, after getting permission as to refrain from frightening Twilight again, took her hoof and placed it on the dotted language in the book. The alicorn gasped, but was cut off before she was able to say anything,"I know you don't know Braille, I also had them get me a book that will let me teach you how to read it, so that way you can still read when I can't read to you," The pegasus added as she pulled the book away slowly and placed it on the table once more, "So what do you think?" Finishing with a question, Rainbow looked at Twilight, waiting for a reply, but Twilight remained in shocked silence. Tears welled up in her eyes as she started to cry, but a smile was on her face. Rainbow smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"Th...thank you so much..." She whispered, returning her fiance's embrace tightly before pulling away, removing the glasses from her face with her magic and wiping her eyes, she then placed the glasses on the table for the moment, "Thanks to all of you...I don't know what I'd do without you," She added, wiping her eyes again.

"Not a problem Twilight," Applejack replied, a smile on her face. The others ad-libbed their agreement as they all joined in a short group hug, "If we start now, we can get the first ramp built today!"

"Perfect!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Who's gonna stay with Twilight while we work?"

"I will," Starlight volunteered, "I'd actually like to talk to her for a moment."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie replied, the others nodding as they gathered up their tools and left the throne room, leaving Twilight and Starlight alone. The unicorn approached the alicorn, who had gone back to staring straight ahead, though Starlight could tell she had been listening to their conversation.

"Hey, Twilight? Could you step down to the floor so we could face each other? It'll make talking easier..."

"Sure," Twilight stood, turned left, took a couple steps, then turned left again to face Starlight's voice, then sat down. The unicorn smiled at the progress her friend had already made, before sitting down herself, "What did you wanna talk about?"

"Well...I really have more of a question...why didn't you try to get treatment before if you knew you had Glaucoma?"

"I did...my doctor tried everything. He tried many different medications over time, magic spells, potions. We tried glasses at one point but I stopped wearing them eventually. Heck, we even did laser eye surgery when I was fifteen. Nothing worked, in fact, he told me it seemed to be getting worse, and that was nothing we could do. So I gave up, and enjoyed seeing things while I could...and now it's gone," Twilight explained, Starlight sighed.

"I'm so sorry Twilight...I wish we could fix this...I can tell you're really upset about this. You're just holding it in."

"Well, of course, I'm upset, I won't ever be able to see my friends again, I won't be able to see my fiance when we marry, I won't be able to see my own child if we ever decide to adopt or something! For Celestia's sake, I can't even read right now! I-..." Twilight stopped to take a breath as tears once again began rolling down her cheeks, "Without my eyesight I...I feel so useless...Like, what can I even do anymore? Sit, talk, eat, and sleep. That about sums it up doesn't it?! I feel like another problem on Rainbow's shoulders..." Starlight was shocked at the harsh yet upset tone her friend was using, she knew it wasn't directed at anypony, so she took no offense.

"Twilight, you are not useless, okay? You're gonna be fine, there's nothing to get worked up over. Rainbow loves you, and she would never think you're a burden, and you know that."

"I know I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell I just...I don't know what to do anymore...I'm scared, Starlight. I'm utterly terrified. I don't know anymore..." Wiping her eyes, Twilight looked down, sobbing quietly. Starlight simply smiled as she pulled her into a hug.

"What you're going to do, is look at the positive side,"

"How? I'm blind !"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Starlight replied, rolling her eyes, "I mean that you can still be you. You have a choice here. You can either give up, sit down and cry over this, or you can use what you have and rise up above all this. Just because you can't see doesn't make you useless. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and you are the strongest mare I know," Twilight smiled and hugged her friend tighter.

"Thank you..."

"Not a problem"

"Starlight?" Twilight asked, pulling out of the hug after a moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"Could you...Well...Since we don't anything to do right now...could you read me the book they got on teaching Braille? The faster I learn the better..." Starlight smiled at the request.

"Of course," Starlight grasp the book in her magic and brought it from the table to her hooves. The two then laid next to each other, and Starlight began to read.