Chapters Pinkie Pie had her class going full force today. She decided to have a baking challenge to get the students to be creative and try new ideas. She promised that the student with the best cupcakes would be allowed to try her new recipe. She was keeping it a secret, but just between us, it's fresh morning supreme. It's an apple muffin with a maple filling topped with caramel frosting. Sounds good, doesn't it?
Pinkie Pie started thinking to herself as she watched the kids work. "I wish that the other girls weren't busy with their own classes. It's going to be so hard to pick the best cupcakes without them. Well, at least Fluttershy will help me find the best one. More cupcakes for us!"
The kitchen was filled with many unique smells. One student was making chocolate and strawberry cupcakes. Another one was trying to blend mango and grapefruit together. Pinkie had to stop Smolder from trying to mix rubies and emeralds in a blender.
Pinkie gave her a smile as she tried to help her. "I think it's a great idea, but I think it'll break the blender. You might want to try a different approach. Maybe you should use a pestle and mortar to grind them up."
As Pinkie dashed to the other side of the room to help a pony who had spilled blueberries all over the floor, Sandbar leaned over to Silverstream. "Hey, what are you working on?"
Silverstream was digging through the cabinet trying to find something. "I'm calling it the worldwide chocolate blast surprise! I'm trying to use an ingredient from every country that I know about, but I'm having trouble finding something from the dragon lands. I don't want to use diamonds because I don't like the taste."
Sandbar chuckled as he looked through his own ingredients. "I guess gemstones are more of a dragon thing. Don't they have fire breath berries? I think the chocolate and the Griffin milk should help cool it down."
Silverstream's eyes rose with excitement. "Thank you! It's perfect!"
She quickly grabbed the berries and started to mix them into the batter. As she looked into it she noticed it starting to bubble and glow red. An unnatural heat was emanating from this glob. It smelled like smoke and hot peppers.
While Sandbar and Silverstream stared at this in fear, Pinkie Pie jumped over to see how they were doing. "How are my baking friends doing over here?" Her singing voice suddenly stopped as the saw the glowing batter starting to rise in the bowl. "Oh dear!"
Silverstream looked nervously as the batter started to make one big bubble. "Did I do something wrong?"
Pinkie looked at her with a nervous smile. "You didn't happen to mix fire breath berries with Griffin milk and Saddle Arabian chocolate did you?"
Silverstream slowly scratched her head as she gave a nervous chuckle. "Maybe?"
Pinkie Pie just smiled and patted Silverstream's head. "Just wondering. Every pony duck!" Pinkie screamed as she pulled Silver under the counter.
All of the students took a quick look to where Pinkie was to see the growing bubble at Silverstream's station before quickly diving behind the counters. As everybody covered their faces they all heard the door open.
"Um, is any pony here?"
Suddenly a loud explosion erupted from the bubble, splattering the room with it's contents. As everyone got up they smelled the smoke left from the explosion. The smell was irritating and made some of the students cough uncontrollably. The ceiling and walls were all coated with a dark red bubbling mess of batter. As the ringing in everyone's ears wore off the heard someone screaming.
Pinkie Pie was the first to notice who it was. "Fluttershy!"
Everyone turned to the door to see Fluttershy partly coated in the same batter, and covering her eyes in pain. As Pinkie Pie tried to push her hooves away to look at her eyes she could feel the batter burning on her own hooves. She could see the batter covered her chest and whole face. She didn't want to ask her to open her eyes in fear of letting this hot batter in her eyes, if there wasn't any in there already.
As Fluttershy screamed and cried about the pain Twilight ran over from down the hall while the students from the other classes came over to look. "What happened to her?"
Silverstream answered as she started to cry. "W-we were making cupcakes and I used some fire berries. It exploded and got all over her. I-I didn't mean to..."
Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder. "We'll talk about this later. Right now we need to help Fluttershy."
As Twilight started to keep all of the students back Starlight Glimmer ran over. "I heard the noise, what's going on?"
As Twilight and Pinkie Pie picked up Fluttershy, Twilight gave her orders. "We need to go to the hospital! You're in charge! I need you to see if anyone else is hurt and then send them to the hospital. As for everybody else, school will be cut short today. Let the others girls know what happened. If we take her someplace else or if there are any new problems then I'll message you. When the room is clean and everybody is dismissed I want you to join us as soon as possible."
Everyone watched as Fluttershy was carried away by Twilight and Pinkie. They all started asking the same question; What was going to happen to Fluttershy? Starlight wanted to tell them that she would be fine, but she truthfully didn't know.
Twilight waited with her friends in the Canterlot hospital. The Ponyville hospital told them a few hours ago that Fluttershy would need special treatment that they couldn't provide. Twilight didn't even wait for a goodbye before teleporting them to Canterlot. The ten minute wait for a doctor was painful; the two hour wait to see Fluttershy was even more so. Twilight and Pinkie were happy when the rest of the mane 6 showed up, but it soon resulted in everybody waiting for the same answers.
The waiting room never seemed like a pleasant place. The white walls had a way of making you feel small and helpless. A few paintings hung on the wall. Rarity described them as modern art. No one else seemed to agree. Rainbow even went as far to describe them as random splashes of paints that a baby spilled on a canvas. A small photo on a nearby table with some kids books read "Aren't you glad you're not hurt bad enough to go first?" No one found it funny. Several ponies waited in the room. Some were sick, others hurt, and some were just waiting for their loved ones.
Everybody could feel the pure sense of uncertainty in the room. Twilight was busy trying to go over the odds of what could have medically happened to Fluttershy, even though medicine wasn't her strong suit. Dash looked like she was being tortured by the agonizing wait as she kept looking at the clock and muttering to herself. Rarity was trying to hide her anxiety by reading some of the magazines that were laid out, she even offered a few to Applejack. She turned Rarity down at first, but she found one which looked a little interesting and started going through it. Pinkie looked worse then some of the patients that were coming in. Her mane was already partly deflated. She didn't make any jokes.
Pinkie Pie finally broke the silence as a few tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry girls. If I didn't leave those ingredients out; this mess would never had happened."
Twilight gave Pinkie a small smile to comfort her. "It's not your fault. I don't think any of us knew that someone would make a recipe like that."
Rainbow Dash leaned over to them. "I didn't even know you could make a batter bomb like that. That was totally..."
Everybody gave Dash an evil glare before she could finish her sentence. Dash slowly sat back in her seat. Another 15 minutes passed. The mane six (or five) remained silent.
Finally Dash groaned out of pure boredom. "We've been waiting here forever!"
Rarity sighed and agreed with her friend. "Indeed. It does seem to be taking a long time. I wonder what's taking the doctors so long."
Applejack placed down her country magazine. "Well I'd rather have them take their time than miss something important."
Pinkie Pie started to panic. "What if something's really wrong? What if she's allergic to fire breath berries? Gasp!!! WHAT IF SHE TURNED INTO A DRAGON?"
Twilight carefully shushed her friend. "I doubt she turned into a dragon. There's nothing that can do at the moment."
As everybody was finally settling down Starlight Glimmer finally came in and joined them. "Sorry I'm late. I had to try to calm Silverstream down before leaving. She isn't taking this well. How's Fluttershy?"
Before anyone could answer her a nurse poked her head through the door. "Twilight? Fluttershy is ready to see you and your friends now. Just follow the doctor and he'll explain everything to you."
Starlight sighed in relief as she followed them. "I'm glad I didn't have to wait."
As they walked through the door they were greeted by a stallion. He was a unicorn who had a light blue coat and a white mane. In spite of his white hair he apparently was fairly young and well built. He wore a white lab coat and a light blue collared shirt. His cutie mark was an eye similar to one of a bird.
He shook their hooves as they walked in. "Nice to meet you all. Follow me please and keep to one side of the hall."
Rarity blushed as she shook his hoof. "Of course!"
As he led them through the hallway he started talking to them. "My name is Eagle Eye. I'm Fluttershy's doctor. I'll try to keep this simple so no pony gets confused."
Pinkie Pie quickly asked the question that she really wanted to know. "Did she turn into a dragon?!?"
Eagle Eye looked back and grinned. "I think that's out of my field of expertise. I'm an eye doctor and I specialize in cases like this. The batter did burn her skin a little but it's not serious. There are mainly first degree burns so it's not as bad as you'd think. We are using a burn ointment and rash will fade in a day or two. Now about the hard part. The substance found in her eyes was not only a strong irritant, but it was most likely hot on impact. It resulted in some retinal damage."
Eagle Eye turned to see that most of the main 6 didn't understand. "Forgive me for my technical terminologies, it burned her eyes. Luckily you got her here quickly. If you took any longer it could have been much worse."
He stopped at a different wing of the hospital and asked them to stop for a moment. He sighed before facing them. "Listen, I did all that I could, and I do have high hopes for her. Right now the treatment will require her to have her eyes bandaged for a week so they're not exposed to sunlight. After a week I'll take them off to see how they are doing. There are three scenarios. One, her eyesight will be fully or at least mostly recovered and will be back to normal in a few days. Two, her vision will be faded and that will require therapy, operations, or even glasses. Three, and I hope it doesn't happen; she'll be permanently blind."
Everyone stood in shock. The idea that their friend would never see again didn't set well with them.
Pinkie Pie grabbed the doctor by his coat. "Are you saying she will never see a birthday party, a sonic rainbow, or even us again?!?"
Eagle Eye slowly nodded. "I am hopeful that she'll..."
Applejack stomped on the floor in frustration before he could finish. "You are supposed to be a fancy doctor in a fancy town and all you can give us is a maybe? I thought you were supposed to be a specialist?"
Eagle Eye took a deep breath and turned to her. "There is only so much I can do. There's only so much magic can do. I can't tell you how complex the eye is; let alone the rest of the body. Stuff like this isn't simple. I did what I could, but now the body needs to do the rest. The only thing we can do now is help her recover. We are keeping her here overnight to observe her. I would like to ask one of you to stay the night with her to keep her company. Believe it or not but her chances of recovery are better if we keep her hopes up and make her happy."
As they all started to try to decide who would stay Pinkie Pie stepped forward. "I'll do it! I'd love to help cheer Fluttershy up. Besides, I won't be able to start teaching again until my classroom is cleaned."
Starlight scratched her head. "Yeah, I'm still trying to get the smell out. You wouldn't be able to stand in there for ten seconds before your eyes would start tearing up."
Eagle Eye continued with his instructions. "Okay! Now we are planning on sending her home tomorrow; that way she'll feel more comfortable. I will fill out a prescription for the Ponyville hospital to change the dressing on her bandages. Her family lives in Cloudsdale so this part will fall on you. Don't leave her alone! You will have to be her eyes, so help her with anything that she wouldn't be able to do without help. Don't let her do any heavy lifting or other strenuous activity. When she starts to get her bearings let her walk around but no flying. She can stretch her wings so encourage her to do so. Don't take her to any really loud places. It will most likely scare her. The most important thing to do is to keep her hopes alive. When the mind is in a positive state the body usually follows. I hope that I can trust you all to keep her hopes up."
Twilight looked to her friends who nodded back. "We'll do our best!"
Eagle Eye smiled as he headed to a door. "That's all I ask. She's in here."
The room Fluttershy was in was a lot more comforting than the waiting room. There were tan walls with a pink trim. There were a few chairs and a small couch next to the walls. The floor had pink roses sewn into the carpet. There were three doors, one they walked through, one had a small closet, and one led into a small restroom which matched the other room, save the tile floor. Fluttershy was lying in a hospital bed with tan bed sheets wearing a blue hospital gown. Parts of her coat looked slightly red and white bandages covered her eyes.
She looked a bit scared when the door opened. "W-w-who's there?"
Eagle Eye was quick to answer. "It's doctor Eagle Eye. Where did the nurse go? I told her not to leave."
Fluttershy did her best to sit up without falling off of the bed. "I think she said she was going to get me dinner."
Eagle Eye sighed. "I told her to wait until I got back. I wish these new nurses would listen to me before acting. I'm going to find her, but I brought your friends here. I'll be right back."
As Eagle Eye turned to leave he saw Pinkie Pie pull out her party cannon. She stopped when he quickly motioned to her not to fire it. As he left the others walked up to Fluttershy. Seeing their friend in this condition felt completely wrong. She looked so fragile and helpless just sitting there. How does a pony find the right words to say in a place like this?
Twilight was the first pony to speak. "Hey Fluttershy, it's me, Twilight. How are you feeling?"
Fluttershy tried her best to face her, but only to face Applejack. "Oh! Hi Twilight. I guess my rash stings a bit and then there's the obvious, but otherwise I'm feeling better. Who all is here?"
Everyone sounded off as they went down the line. Everybody tried to sound cheerful and confident, but a part of them had to fake it.
They talked for a few minutes until Fluttershy gasped. "Oh dear! Who's going to feed the animals until I get back?"
Applejack placed a hoof on the bed. "Now don't you go worrying about that! I'll just stop by your place on the way home tonight."
Starlight Glimmer decided to fill her in on rest of the plan that she had worked out. "I can cover your classes until you get better, and we'll all take turns watching you."
Admittedly, they had only planned on what would happen if she'd be in the hospital for a few days. They didn't plan on her being blind for a whole week.
Dash rephrased what Sunset said. "So basically we'll get to hang out with you more."
Slowly Fluttershy leaned forward with a concerned look on her face. "The doctor already told me about my chances. Do you think I'll be able to see again?"
Dash quickly tried to encourage her. "Don't worry about that. You will be fine. The only thing you have to worry about right now is the hospital food."
Fluttershy gave a small grin. "You should know; you've been in hospital enough."
Everyone laughed at her joke as Eagle Eye and a nurse walked in. "Sorry we took so long. Did I miss anything?"
The mane seven chatted for a while. However they had the few hiccups in the conversation. Rarity started to describe a new line she was working on until she remembered the bandages.
Dash ended up talking about the Wonderbolts new routine until she said "If you could have seen...”. When she realized what she said she quickly changed the topic.
Eventually visiting hours were over and everyone except Pinkie Pie left. That night Pinkie Pie had a hard time getting to sleep. It wasn't only the fact that she was trying to sleep in a small couch, but she kept thinking about the accident. She kept tossing and turning as she kept wondering what she could have done different to prevent this accident. If it was any other combination of ingredients then it would have been harmless, and very spicy. She kept having to look at Fluttershy's face with these white, clean bandages covering half of her face. The sight of her kept burning into her mind and increased the guilt that was already weighing her down. If Fluttershy could have seen her she would have seen that her mane was completely deflated at this point.
As she sighed and tried rolling over again she heard Fluttershy's soft voice. "It's not your fault. You know that, right?"
Pinkie sat up and looked at Fluttershy. "I know, but I can't help it. I don't like looking at you like this. I want to help, but I'm clueless right now."
Fluttershy stopped her. "All I want is some pony here. I just want to know that there's someone here to catch me. I'm scared Pinkie. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to be blind."
Pinkie looked at Fluttershy. The bandages kept any tears from escaping, but she could tell from what she could see that Fluttershy was crying. Pinkie tried to think of something she could do to help her friend. Eventually she started to hum her smile song. Fluttershy's whimpers slowly faded as Pinkie hummed her song. After a few minutes Fluttershy finally fell asleep, and soon Pinkie joined her.
The next day the doctor replaced Fluttershy's bandages and then she was discharged. Eagle Eye let her borrow a wheelchair so she could get around town until she was comfortable walking while blind. The walk back to the train station was uncomfortable to her. She did trust Pinkie, but she was surrounded by so many noises. She felt like she had an army of ponies talking around her. When they got to the train station the conductor helped her and Pinkie on board. Fluttershy found these new sensations unnerving. She smelled the smoke from the engine; the perfume from the pony a few seats in front of her. She felt the leather seats under her; the soft carpet under her hooves; the soft breeze against her hair. She heard the wind blowing outside; the engine going full force; the whispers coming from the other passengers.
"Isn't that Fluttershy?"
"What happened to her?"
"Is she blind?"
"I wonder what will happen to her."
"So much for the element of kindness."
Fluttershy tried blocking the voices out of her head, but the whispers kept coming.
Pinkie Pie could tell she was starting to get stressed, so she decided to distract her. "Hey, why don't we play a game? How about Eye Spy? Oh, sorry, bad idea. How about hide and... Nope. Uh. How about... No. Maybe..."
Fluttershy stopped her. "No thanks."
Pinkie instantly regretted her suggestion. After a few moments of thought she had an idea. "Hey! How about when we get back we go to the bakery and play guess that flavor cup... Err, muffin."
Fluttershy gave a soft smile and nodded. When they got back to Ponyville she felt a bit more comfortable. She had a hard time finding out where in town they were at. She once again heard the whispering from the other nearby ponies. It was difficult to try to ignore them. The smells were harder to discern. For a moment she could smell the nearby trees, then she would smell wood polish from the antique store, and then she could smell fresh apple pie. The smells kept changing every few seconds. The ride on the wheel chair was very bumpy on that dirt road. She never knew how bumpy the road was until now. Maybe it was the small wheels that placed a greater emphasis on the small details of the road. She felt a sudden bump and then the ride was smooth.
Pinkie smiled as she parked Fluttershy at a table. "Well, here we are. I'll let the Cakes know that we're here and then we'll play guess that flavor muffin."
Fluttershy gave a smile and a small nod. Fluttershy didn't feel as alone as she did when the nurse left her alone. She could smell the cakes and other sweets that were baking in the other room. She heard the few customers talking to each other. One of them sounded a bit like Octavia. She sounded like she was lecturing Vinal about classical music again Fluttershy jumped a bit when someone bumped her shoulder.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." Fluttershy recognized the voice as Derpy Hooves.
"Oh, it's quite alright Derpy. At least I think it's Derpy. I'm sorry. I'm still trying to get used to this." Fluttershy said as she gestured to her bandages.
Derpy gave a smile. "It's alright. I've been getting used to my eyes for a long time now."
As Derpy tried to walk away Fluttershy spoke up. "What is it like looking through your eyes? I don't want to sound rude but I want to know if I..."
Fluttershy couldn't finish her sentence. The fear of losing a part of her eyesight, let alone all of it, was still egging at her.
Derpy sighed as she sat down. "I don't think that your problems are the same as mine. I have a lack of depth perception; it's why some ponies think that I'm always clumsy. It took me a long time to get used to seeing like this. I wish I could tell you more about what you are going through or what you might end up going through, but your mind is stronger than you think. You might see things you never seen with your eyes. Don't give up on yourself yet."
Fluttershy wasn't too happy about the response she got. Everything was still an unknown for her.
Suddenly she heard Pinkie enter the room. "I'm back! I've got a nice selection of muffins here for my good friend. Oh, hi Derpy. It's good to see you. Thank you for keeping one of my my best friends company. I'm guessing the regular order for you today?"
Fluttershy listened as Derpy got up from her seat. "I'm sorry but I'm running late on my deliveries. I need to get going."
Fluttershy stopped her before she could leave. "You can have the muffins Pinky made for me. I can always wait for more."
Both of them were taken back by Fluttershy's request. Derpy tried to back out but Fluttershy insisted on making up for taking all of Derpy's time. After a game of guess that flavor muffin they left for Twilight's castle. The long hallways echoed the small squeaks from the wheelchair. Pinkie Pie knew that the school was still in session so she grabbed a random book from one of the shelves. She was glad that Twilight kept her spell books in another room.
Fluttershy wasn't sure why Pinkie thought it was a good idea to grab a book when she wasn't going to be able to do any heave reading. "Um, I'm guessing you're just going to read it by yourself"
Pinkie smiled. "No silly! I'm going to read it to you. Just because you can't read it yourself doesn't mean you can't enjoy it."
Fluttershy didn't like the idea of inconveniencing her friend, but she knew that Pinkie just wanted to cheer her up. Pinkie accidentally grabbed an old play off of the shelf, but that didn't stop her. The story was about a pirate who left his crew because his nurse was hard of hearing when he was a kid. The story was nonsensical but very funny. Fluttershy almost laughed a few times when she heard Pinkie's impressions whenever she switched to a new character. When her friends came in Pinkie was singing "with cat-like tread". It was a song about being quiet, but it was sung fairly loud. Everybody sat down next to Fluttershy as Pinkie continued her performance. After Pinkie was done with her play they spent the rest of the day talking about how school was going. They brought all of the get well cards and gifts that the students and townsfolk sent her and read them to Fluttershy. Most of them were along the lines of "get well soon". Fluttershy kept thinking with each letter how she might not get better.
About halfway through the letters Fluttershy stopped them. "I'm sorry, but I think I want to go home now. I'm pretty tired."
Rainbow Dash was the one who took her home. The closer they got to the house the more comfortable Fluttershy felt. All of the animals who spent their time around her were waiting for her in her home. Dash didn't spend much time there because she had Wonderbolt practice in the morning. Fluttershy thanked her as she left, but soon was met with a new challenge. She had to navigate blindly around the house. Fluttershy started to make her way into the living room. She couldn't see but she had a decent memory of where everything was at. As she sat down on her couch she heard Angel complaining to her.
She leaned over to his general direction. "Oh! You all haven't had dinner yet. Oh dear."
She didn't think about how she'd be able to feed the animals, but she knew that they needed something to eat. Fluttershy slowly made her way into the kitchen. She searched through several drawers knocking stuff on the floor until she found a bowl. She nearly slipped on a rolling pin just trying to find the fridge. As she started to get frustrated about the mess she was making she managed to find what felt like a bag of carrots. The only problem was that it was a sealed bag. Rarity said that it would last longer, but Fluttershy didn't know how to open it without seeing. After searching in the fridge and bumping a few things over she realized that it was the only bag left. She grabbed one end with her teeth and the other end with her hooves. She pulled on it more and more until the bag split in two; scattering the carrots across the floor. As Fluttershy searched across the floor for the spilled carrots Angel yelled at her for dropping his favorite food. Fluttershy was finally fed up with the mess she made, being yelled at, not being able to see, and basically everything else that made her once calm life miserable.
Fluttershy slammed her hooves on the floor as she screamed at Angel. "I'M TRYING, ALRIGHT?!?"
As soon as those words left her mouth she realized what he did. She screamed at her pet, her friend. Fluttershy knew that there was no one to blame but herself for her outburst. Fluttershy curled into a ball and started crying. Angel was quiet when he saw his caretaker break down in front of her. All of the animals there came in to see what happened. Angel lowered his head when he realized that his master was hurting and the first thing he did was yell at her for a meal. Angel slowly walked up to Fluttershy and gave her a gentle hug. Soon the other animals followed suit. Fluttershy stopped crying when she felt her animals doing what little they could to help her. The bear decided to pick her up and take her to her bed. As Fluttershy tried to go to sleep she felt grateful for her friends who tried to help her, but she didn't like where life was taking her. She found the smallest tasks impossible. She never wanted to see her friends so badly, and she wondered if she'd ever see anything again.
A hurting friendship, and a new view.
Fluttershy was awoken by a roster that morning. It was the only way she could tell time anymore. She didn't bother trying to brush her hair or anything like that, since she knew it would only make a big mess. As she made her way to the living room to wait for Rarity to pick her up she remembered that her bedroom was upstairs. She was terrified of missing a step and falling down to another hospital visit.
She tried thinking about how she'd get downstairs. "Maybe if I take slow steps?"
As she tried feeling the first step she found that her stairs were at a steep angle and we're very slippery. As she tried to figure out what happened she was pushed down her stairs which were now a slide. She screamed as she slid uncontrollably. Right before she reached the floor she was caught by a pair of arms. One of them was fuzzy while the other one felt smooth.
As Fluttershy felt herself being carried she heard a charming male voice. "You know they have those safety rails on the stairs for a reason."
She instantly recognized the voice. "Discord! Don't scare me like that!"
He gently sat her down on her couch as she tried to catch her breath. "I'm sorry, but you do know that I love making an entrance. I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I didn't hear about what happened until last night during ogres and oubliettes. I wanted to talk to you last night but you were already asleep. So I just thought I'd take care of some of your chores for you. By the way; I brought a few get well gifts. I hear that chocolates are traditional get well gifts so I got you the 238th biggest box I found. The others couldn't fit through the door. I also got you some balloons. I realized that you wouldn't be able to see any of them so I made them talk. They're tied to the left side of your couch so all you have to do is yank on them and they'll cheer you right up. It doesn't hurt them; It's more like an automated message."
Fluttershy gave them a gentle yank and listened as they all cheered for her to get better. She gave a soft laugh. It felt good to have Discord there to cheer her up in his own chaotic way.
Discord continued with his list. "I also noticed the mess in your kitchen so I thought I would fix it up for you. Take note that the sink may shoot out lemonade, so mind the third handle. Then I fed your animals and you wouldn't believe how much they like candy, and they wouldn't believe that it was just their regular food. I know you might think; disguising normal food like sweets doesn't sound like my style, but if I can trick Celestia with that she'll never trust a slice of cake again."
If Fluttershy's eyes weren't bandaged she would have rolled them, but then she had an idea that could fix all of her problems.
She decided to pitch her idea to the only one who could make it work. "Thank you Discord. Is it alright if I ask you something?"
Discord summoned a pair of drums for his joke. "You just did." Ta bum bum.
He smiled as he tossed the drums into his pocket. "Alright, jokes aside what's on your mind?"
Fluttershy did her best not to wonder what crazy things he was doing. She was only focused on her cure. "Well, I don't know how hard it would be, but can you fix me?"
Discord donned a mechanics outfit. "What's wrong? Flat tire? Spark plugs? Empty gas tank?"
Fluttershy didn't get his joke, but she didn't think hard about it. "You know what I mean. Can you help me see again? Can you fix my eyes?"
Discord knew what she wanted, but he didn't know how to break the news. "Fluttershy, if I could help you you'd know I'd turn the world inside out just for you. I can do impossible thing like temporarily removing someone's wings and horn, making it rain chocolate milk, and so on. However there are things that are indeed impossible for me. Making someone into a true alicorn, restore missing limbs, or healing blind eyes. Now trust me when I say I can fake it. I can slap a horn on you right now, but it wouldn't fix it. If I try to let you see again it wouldn't be real, and you'd see a few crazy things. It would also destroy any chances of your eyes truly healing. I'm the lord of chaos, not a magical healer."
Fluttershy was shocked. She has seen him do the impossible, but something so small can't be fixed?
Fluttershy turned to Discords general direction with an angry look on her face. If those bandages weren't covering her eyes she might have given him the stare . "I'm not asking for something big; I just want to see again. I'm willing to take the risk."
Discord tried to calm her down. "But I'm not. You only have a few days left until we can see if your eyes can still work. I don't want to give you something fake. I want you to have the real thing."
Fluttershy instantly barked at him. "I WANT MY LIFE BACK! I want to reach into the fridge and know what I'm grabbing. I want to walk up a set of stairs without fearing for my life. I want to see your face again. You've broken reality so many times; WHY CAN'T YOU FIX ME? "
Discord was shocked. It felt like her eyes were burning through the bandages and staring into his skull. Before either of them could speak again the doorbell rang. Discord got up to answer it. He opened the door to see Rarity waiting outside.
He could tell that she didn't expect him to answer. "Oh, hello Discord. I didn't expect to see you here. Is Fluttershy here?"
Discord sighed softly. "Of course."
He led her into the living room where Fluttershy was sitting.
Rarity felt a bit of tension between them. "I hope that I didn't come at a bad time. I thought that I would treat you to breakfast and then take you to my store. Would you like to join us Discord?"
Discord didn't come up with any clever remarks. "No. I'll be taking care of the animals today. Thanks for the invite."
Rarity was rather confused that Discord wasn't trying to make any jokes, but she just guessed that seeing your friend in that state would take the joy out of anybody. Rarity and Discord helped Fluttershy into her wheelchair. Before they could walk out of the door Discord teleported in front of them.
Discord set a single rose in Fluttershy's lap. As he leaned over he whispered into Fluttershy's ear. "About our conversation earlier; I can't and I won't."
He disappeared before either of them could reply.
Rarity was confused by the whole mess. "What were you two talking about in there?"
Fluttershy remained silent. Rarity decided that she shouldn't press the issue. Rarity tried talking Fluttershy into trying to walk, but she wasn't comfortable with the idea yet. Fluttershy was still angry that Discord wouldn't help her. After a good breakfast and a stop by the hospital to change Fluttershy's bandages they reached Rarity's boutique. Rarity sat Fluttershy at a chair she set up earlier.
Rarity didn't have any customers yet so she decided to try an idea to work with Fluttershy. "Dear, would you mind modeling a few dresses for me?"
Fluttershy didn't show much enthusiasm in her voice. "Whatever."
Rarity tried explaining it to her. "Darling, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings. How a dress looks is one thing; I want you to tell me how it feels. How does that sound?"
Fluttershy just shrugged. Rarity helped dress Fluttershy into several dresses. Fluttershy didn't show much emotion while this was going on. Rarity kept trying to comment on how Fluttershy looked, but Fluttershy didn't seem to care. Fluttershy felt alone in the world. She was too busy thinking about all the things she never could do again.
Rarity couldn't figure out how to cheer her up, so she decided to try something drastic. "I just remembered that I have some new fabric in the back. I'll be back in a second."
Fluttershy nodded as she sat down again. A few moments after Rarity left Fluttershy heard the door open. She heard a voice that she didn't recognize.
The voice was most likely female and was fairly gentle. "Hello?"
Fluttershy answered. "Rarity is in the back of the store. She will be back soon."
"Oh, well I'm looking for a dress for the upcoming gala. My husband got a couple of tickets from a friend who is a royal guard and I want to surprise him with a new dress. Do you think you can help me find one that my husband will love?"
Fluttershy was instantly offended that someone would make fun of her bandages. Her shy and timid voice was replaced with an irritated and angry one. "Do you really think that this is funny?"
The voice sounded confused. "I-I'm sorry? Did I say something wrong?"
Fluttershy just barely raised her voice. "Can't you tell that I'm blind?"
A calm voice replied. "No, no I can't. I'm blind too."
Fluttershy was instantly embarrassed for talking to her the way she did. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
She listened as the voice came closer. "It's alright. I always wondered what would happen if I ran into another blind pony. My name is Summer Dew."
Fluttershy was surprised as she heard Summer sit down in front of her. "I'm Fluttershy. How did you know where I was?"
Summer chuckled. "I had your voice to go off of. Forgive me for asking, but how long have you been blind? It sounds like this is something new for you."
Fluttershy felt embarrassed again. "Three days. I was in an accident. The doctor is going to take off my bandages in a few days to see if I'll be able to see again."
Summer smiled. "That's good. It means that you have a chance."
Fluttershy lowered her head. "But what if I'll never see again?"
Summer knew what Fluttershy was saying. "Like me? I've never seen anything through my eyes in my entire life. I don't know what colors are. I don't even know what I look like. Now you might pity me for my sad circumstances, but do you want to know something? I've seen more than most ponies have with perfect vision. Take it from someone who has been in the same boat longer than you."
Before Fluttershy could ask what she meant be that Rarity came in. "I'm sorry darling. Opal was being a bit testy today. Ah! Hello Summer. Did Grey get those tickets?"
Summer stood up and gave a small smile. "Yes. I'm a little excited. Tell me, are you wearing Fragrance of paradise?"
Fluttershy was shocked when Rarity admitted it. "Of course. I thought that I would have stumped you this time. It's supposed to be the newest stuff."
Summer laughed "Octavia wore it last week. Nice try."
Fluttershy was confused. "Wait! How did you know?"
"I guess practice. I've heard that people who lose a sense have their other senses strengthened, but I think anyone can do it if they slowed down a bit. Why don't you try telling me what it smells like. Just slow down and focus. Talk it out."
Fluttershy slowly made her way to where she thought Rarity was and took a deep breath. "I think it's tropical... Oh, you want to know more. Well, I think there's mango, pineapple, kiwi, and I think a hint of lime."
Rarity read off of the bottle to show that she was right. "I didn't even notice the lime."
Summer gently found Fluttershy's shoulder. "Amazing isn't it? It will only strengthen with time. I know you are scared, but you have a chance to see thing in a way no one else can. Slow down a bit. Take in the world around you."
Fluttershy didn't know how to respond to what she said. She didn't notice the perfume until she started to pay attention. Maybe there was more to what senses she still had left. As Rarity started helping Summer Fluttershy started to try walking around the room. She wished that she had paid closer attention when she entered. She ended up bumping into a clothes rack. As she felt the clothes on the rack she noticed that they felt smooth to the touch. She could only assume that they were some form of silk. She started noticing the style of layering of the dress. She felt a small piece of a different fabric. She could tell that they were supposed to go together.
Rarity noticed Fluttershy touching one of the dresses. "Darling, please be careful with that. That's for a wedding in few days."
Fluttershy instantly recognized the style. After a few minutes Rarity finished helping Summer Dew.
Before she left, Fluttershy realized that Summer came in alone. "Excuse me Summer, but how did you get here?"
"I walked here. It's not hard when you know where everything is. Take my advice for when you try making your way across town for the first time, don't try it alone."
Fluttershy listened as Summer walked out the door. The next two hours were spent modeling dresses and waiting for Rarity to finish helping customers. Summers words were still running through Fluttershy's head. How does Summer live like this? How did she get to the point that she can walk through town without seeing?
Rarity soon finished her orders. "Done, at least until after my class. Well, I think that I can spare a few minutes to grab a light lunch. Are you ready darling?"
"Oh of course. Um... Do you mind if I try walking there?" Fluttershy said as she slowly got up.
Rarity was a bit shocked. "Uh, are you sure that's a good idea?"
Fluttershy nodded. Rarity guided Fluttershy to the door slowly. Rarity did her best to make sure she didn't let her friend walk into the door frame. Fluttershy walked slowly through the street. She nearly stumbled on the edge of the sidewalk a couple of times. Fluttershy focused on her memory of where all of the buildings were. She used the sidewalk to try to get a baseline of where she was. After a short walk and a few misshapes they made their way into the diner.
Rarity was busy plucking branches from Fluttershy's hair as they took their seats. "I think we need to find a way for you to walk around without walking into bushes."
Fluttershy blushed. As they sat down outside for lunch Fluttershy heard the birds singing in the trees. She usually only listened to them in the morning and night when she was at home, or on nature walks. This was the first time in a long time she listened during the day. They sung softly as if they were mourning. The melody raised as if to encourage someone. Fluttershy couldn't tell if the song was for her or someone else.
After a few minutes she heard Twilight. "Hey Rarity, Spike managed to clear my schedule so I can take over now."
Rarity got up from her seat. "Thank you Twilight. I hope you two have fun."
As Rarity left Twilight turned her attention to Fluttershy. "So, how are you feeling?"
"I don't know yet."
"Well, you must be feeling better if you are walking around."
Fluttershy pulled one more twig out of her hair that was scratching her head. "And into bushes. At least the birds have a new nest."
They both giggled at the joke. Twilight decided to take Fluttershy to her castle.
Twilight started organizing books in the lounge. "I hope you don't mind if I go through some of my photo albums. I got some more photos from my brother."
Fluttershy lowered her head a bit. "Oh, okay."
Twilight started going through the books. "I figured since you had fun with listening to Pinkie pie's play you would enjoy listening to some of my family stories. Applejack does the same thing and it calms me down."
Fluttershy gave a silent nod. Twilight started talking about some of Shining Armor's more embarrassing stories. Fluttershy didn't have much to do so she listened to her.
After a few hours the rest of the main six walked into the lounge.
Rarity turned to her friends. "I think Fluttershy had a rough morning, but she's doing better now."
Dash grinned. "You see guys! Nothing can keep her down."
Applejack looked towards Dash. "I don't know. Big Mac told me that Discord canceled the next guys night."
Spike gave a small gasp. "He never cancels game night, and we were in a tavern. We always have fun in the tavern!"
Rarity reflected on what she saw that morning. "Maybe Discord and Fluttershy had a argument?"
Dash laughed. "Are you joking? Don't you remember everything that he does for her? They never fight."
Rarity shook her head. "Maybe, but they both looked upset this morning. With everything that's going on it could be possible."
As they walked into the lounge they saw Fluttershy giggling as Twilight finishing her story. "So Shining breaks down the door with ten guards behind him only to see Cadence holding Flurry, and do you know what she says? "We are out of milk, can you get some from the kitchen?" All of the guards were joking about it all week. They even kept bottles on hoof just so they could joke around with him."
Fluttershy let out another fit of giggles before noticing the others. "Oh! Hey girls. We were just talking. Come join us!"
Applejack was content seeing her happy. "I'd love to sugar, but I have chores that need to be done before Luna gets to work. I'll see you tomorrow."
Rainbow Dash stretched her wings. "Yeah, I did have a rough day at Wonderbolts practice. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning. I'm so sorry you had to listen to Twilight's stories all day "
Fluttershy chuckled. "They are actually pretty good if you listen to them."
Pinkie Pie gave Fluttershy a hug before she left. Twilight decided to take Fluttershy home early.
Fluttershy started to get comfortable walking home. She enjoyed the help the Twilight gave her adjusting. When they walked into her cottage Fluttershy didn't hear Discord inside.
Twilight helped Fluttershy to her couch. "Alright. You rest here while I feed the animals."
"Oh! You don't need to do that."
"It's alright, I don't want you to hurt yourself."
As Fluttershy placed a hoof on the arm of the couch she felt the strings attached to it. As she pulled the string she remembered her fight with Discord.
Twilight walked back in with several containers in her hooves. "Hey Fluttershy, I think Discord messed with some of your stuff. For starters the sink pours lemonade, and I think he did something with your food."
Fluttershy felt Twilight trying to hand her her groceries. Fluttershy started to feel what seems like a carton until she felt some weird bumps on it. After running her hooves over it several times she started to make sense of what the shapes on the carton were. They seemed to form the words 'milk'. Fluttershy started to feel the other containers that Twilight gave her. She felt words engraved on them too, like 'carrots', 'hay', and 'jam'.
Twilight handed her a card. "I found this taped of the fridge, It doesn't have anything on it though."
Fluttershy ran her hoof over it carefully.
As she failed to feel anything on it she heard what seemed like a whisper from Discord. "I still care about you."
Twilight looked confused as Fluttershy looked like she was seconds away from crying. "What is it?"
Fluttershy slowly rapped the card in a hug. "I'm so sorry. "
Twilight couldn't get a straight answer from her that night.
Fluttershy was up for hours that night. She thought about what she said to Discord, what Summer said to her, and what she was learning. She started thinking that maybe it's not loosing her eyes that will define her, but how she learns from it.
Fluttershy spent the next two days spending time with her friends. On the first day she spent the morning with Applejack in Sweet apple acres listening to her talk about the last 10 family reunions. Then Fluttershy spent time with Pinkie Pie at a party. Pinkie found it interesting how Fluttershy could whisper where all the kids were hiding during hide and seek. When Pinkie Pie asked her about it Fluttershy said that she listened to the giggling. That night Fluttershy listened to her friends talk about the upcoming test that they were planning at school. She was worried when she didn't hear from Discord at all that day; she could still remember their fight from the other day.
The next day Rainbow Dash decided to take Fluttershy to a trail for a picnic. Fluttershy asked Dash if she had a book the she would like to read to her. If she wasn't blind she would have seen a large grin spread across Dash's face. They settled in a nice clear area outside of town. After enjoying a few sandwiches Fluttershy listened to Dash as she read 'Daring Do and the Magic compass'. As Daring Do was backed against the brick wall surrounded by diamond dogs Rainbow Dash heard a familiar voice from above her.
"Hey Dash! I was wondering if you'd like to have a quick race with us?" Dash turned to see Soarin and Fleetfoot in the sky waving at her.
Dash bit her lip. "I'd love to, but I've got to..."
Fluttershy reached over to find Dash's shoulder. "It's alright. You can race with Soarin and his friend. Just please don't forget about me."
Dash's eyes widened. "Okay, I know how you knew Soarin was here because of his voice, but how did you know about Fleetfoot being here?"
Fluttershy grinned. "I hear two sets of wings flapping right now."
Dash gave Fluttershy a impressed look before taking off. As Fluttershy was waiting for Dash to come back she heard another pony walking up the trail. She turned to his general direction. She could tell that he wasn't in a rush. She caught a slight sniff of fresh wood shavings, paint, and oil.
Fluttershy turned to his general direction. "Is there any construction going on over here?"
"No? I haven't seen any around here. Why would you ask?" The pony said with a confused voice.
Fluttershy blushed as she realized that her guess was wrong. "I'm sorry. I thought you were a construction worker."
The voice paused for a second before speaking. "Oh! You have bandages over your... Sorry. I'm Light Heart. I'm the resident toy maker."
Fluttershy listened ask he walked closer. "Oh! I've never met you before."
Light stood a few feet away from her. "I don't think you ever bought any toys from me before, so that would explain it. Uh, how did you get here?"
Fluttershy shrugged. "Rainbow Dash brought me here. She should be back soon."
She heard Light chuckle. "I know her a bit better than I know you. We have a long standing prank war. She's in the lead. So, are the bandages permanent or..." As she tried blocking the idea from her head she heard a sudden change in Lights voice. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm so sorry!"
Fluttershy gave him a soft smile. "It's okay. I'm just trying not to think about it too much."
Fluttershy heard Light starting to walk away. "I'll just go now. I'm sorry for bothering you."
He sounded upset for bringing it up. Fluttershy quickly spoke up before he got far away. "Uh, would you mind reading for me until Dash comes back?"
She heard him stop in his tracks. "Um, I guess?" She listened to him sit down a few feet away from her. She didn't hear him pick up the book so she assumed he knew magic. She listened as he read from the book. "I'm guessing you left off here. Ahem. Daring Do watched in horror as the diamond dogs blocked every option of escape. With the low ceiling blocking any hope of flying she readied herself for the fight awaiting her.
Collar Bone grinned as a smooth voice came from his mouth. "Well, Daring Do. It seems like the odds have been stacked against you."
Daring gave a sly grin, not wanting to show any sign of weakness. "Well if you brought more dogs then we'd have a fair fight."
Collar Bone gave a soft chuckle. "As much as I'd 'love' to send my men to fight you; I have a new pet I'd like you to meet."
Daring watched as a giant spider crawled through the doorway. Its flexible legs allowed it to make it through with ease. As drool dripped down it's mouth all Daring could do was scream. Fear gripped her heart as she saw her fears magnified by a thousand. As she backed away whimpering the dogs laughed at her. The spider drew closer to her as she held her breath, praying that it would go away. As the spider raised a leg towards her an explosion blew the door off the hinges. All of the dogs turned to the door in shock. An... Wait! What? Uh... An alicorn with blue hair and a yellow coat made his way through the smoke. Oh boy!
As the dogs stood in disbelief the alicorn spoke up. Uh... "Well, I came to this town to deliver a birthday gift for a good friend and I while I'm coming home I hear this. I doubt you're baking a cake for the kid, so I'm giving you one chance. Walk away."
Eh, he he. Um. I think I'll stop here. I'll have to remember to get one of these books later."
Fluttershy gave a confused look. "Why, what's wrong?"
She heard him stuttering. "W-w-well... Oh! Dash is coming back. Quick put these on and tilt your head forward."
Fluttershy felt the book land in her lap and a pair of glasses placed on her face.
She listened as Rainbow Dash landed in front of them. "Very funny Light Heart."
She heard Light chuckle. "Don't interrupt! Things were just getting interesting. Keep reading!"
She heard Dash and Light walk to each other as Dash chuckled. "I don't think that prank counts."
"It could have been worse. I could have had you play hide and seek with her. I know where the line is and I don't cross it."
"Fair enough."
Fluttershy listened as they gave each other a hoof bump before Light Heart walked away while they were talking. "Well, I hope Fluttershy gets better. I'll catch you later."
As she heard Light walking away Dash grabbed the book from Fluttershy's lap. "Hey! Light Heart. The pony on the cover looks just like..."
"Bye!" Light hollered as he ran away.
Dash shrugged as she continued reading. "So, do you think he has met Daring Do?"
Fluttershy grinned. "Most likely."
===============================================================================
Later that day Fluttershy was walking through the hallway of the castle with Starlight. They were playing a strange game. Fluttershy was opening each door and trying to tell which room it was. While they were doing that Fluttershy was asking Starlight about her relationship with her dad.
After a while Starlight decided to talk to her. "Um, Fluttershy, do you mind if we talk?"
Fluttershy nodded. "I think the next room is the library."
Starlight watched as Fluttershy slowly made her way through the door and onto a chair. Starlight sighed as she took a seat next to her. "Fluttershy, I've been talking to the others about what you've been doing these last few days. I'm glad that you are trying to move through this, but I have the feeling that you are trying to run away from the idea of being blind."
As Starlight waited for a response Fluttershy took a few deep breaths. "That's not what I'm doing. I am a afraid that I'll end up losing my animal sanctuary because of this, but you wouldn't believe what I have been able to experience. Yesterday morning while I was listening to Applejack I smelled the sweet apples she was collecting. I could give you a rough guess on how many apples she collected that morning. I learned so much more about her family then I thought there was to know. Then I went to the party with Pinkie. It was scary at first with all of the loud noises, but I learned to focus on the ones I want to hear. I smelled the cupcakes and the cake. I'm pretty sure that Pinkie gave a gasp when I asked for a cupcake. I listened to the bright laughter of the kids as they were playing. When I got home last night I listened to the rain storm. It sounded like a thousand ducks dancing on the lake. It didn't feel like I was just listening to it, but I felt like I was a part of it. Even this morning I got to listen to the birds as they sang their songs. I know this is hard to understand, but I'm seeing the world in a whole new light and I'm learning so much more about you and the others now that I'm more focused on what you all are saying. I'm learning so much about myself, and how strong I really am. I'm worried that I'll be blind, but I'm not dreading the idea anymore."
Starlight was amazed by Fluttershy. She thought that any pony in her position would be fearing the idea of being blind, but Fluttershy not only learned to cope with it, but she learned to thrive. Starlight placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I don't know what to say."
"Neither do I." Fluttershy didn't know how, but somehow Twilight sneaked in without her noticing.
Her confusion increased as she heard more steps heading to her. She was shocked as several hooves wrapped around her. Fluttershy soon realized that it could only be her friends there. She started crying knowing the sacrifices they made for her. She knew that these were the best friends one could have; friends that would drop everything to help her.
Starlight watched as the only words that could come from Fluttershy's mouth were "Thank you".
After a while Fluttershy realized that she didn't feel any claws. As they finished their hug Fluttershy tried wiping tears that were soaked by the bandages. "Thank you girls. I couldn't face this without you. By the way where is Spike at?"
Applejack spoke up. "He wanted to come, but he promised to join the others for guys night."
Dash turned towards her. "But I though they canceled that?"
Applejack just shrugged. "I'm guessing that they changed their mind."
Fluttershy's ears perked up when she heard that. She turned to Applejack's direction. "Can you take me there?"
=======================================================================
The guys were in full swing. They were fighting the dreaded King of the Madeup kingdom. Discord fired two arrows at the spiral tower of phantom force, destroying them. Spike cast a spell of Mary Sue Might on Big Mac as he readied his battle ax. Big Mac charged to the king barely dodging the dark bolt that was fired at him. Just as Big Mac was ready to slice this fiend to oblivion a door was opened out of nowhere.
Spike was the first to groan. "Reality check!"
Discord sighed as he turned to the door. "Seriously Applebloom! You don't just walk in when we are in the zone..." His words were cut off when he saw Fluttershy at the doorway. Discord slowly walked to the door. "Uh... Take five everybody." The guards and king all huddled in a corner and started playing cards.
Spike turned to Big Mac. "Do you want to figure out what's going on?"
Mac shook his head. "Nope!"
Spike looked at them for a second before making his mind up. "Me neither."
Discord walked through the door and lost his Elfish getup. They both stood in silence before Discord spoke up. "So, I guess disappearing is a bad idea. I think you already knew that I was standing here."
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. You are the only guy I know who smells like everything. I thought you canceled guys night."
Discord shrugged. "They talked me into it. They said it'd help me with... whatever." Discord bit his lip as he was waiting for her to yell at her again. "Listen. I'm not to good with the whole round two thing, so can we just pretended we had this argument..."
Before Discord could continue Fluttershy rapped her hooves around him. He was shocked when he heard what she said. "I'm sorry! You were doing everything you could for me and I just wanted more. You were trying to keep me from hurting myself and I couldn't see it. I was so mad, but you kept caring. Can you please forgive me?"
Discord saw that her bandages were soaked in tears. As she was crying in his lap he returned her hug. "Always. Always for you."
As a tear started rolling his cheek he noticed Twilight and the others peeking inside. Discord snapped his fingers and the doors shut by themselves. He did leave a sign that said "Crying in progress. Do Not Disturb!".
Fluttershy and Discord could hear Twilight whisper to the others. "I think we should leave them here. Discord can take her home."
Applejack's voice could be heard. "Well, I'm guessing my brother's going to have to end guys night early."
Discord and Fluttershy spent the rest of the night talking about how Fluttershy was adapting to her new vision. They both knew that they wouldn't forget the fight they had, but they would always remember to forgive each other and themselves.
Fixing the broken pieces.
Fluttershy felt like she was somewhat comfortable with navigating without her vision now. It wasn't perfect yet, but it wasn't something she feared anymore. It seemed like the more she was willing to open her mind to be willing with her disability the more used she was to the obstacles that once towered over her. She spent most of the morning doing her morning chores with Pinkie Pie. Having someone so unpredictable around her made things a little difficult, but it was good to have company.
While Pinkie helped fill the bird feeders she decided to ask her a question that was bugging her. "Hey Fluttershy, I noticed that the doctor is supposed to come tomorrow. How are you feeling?"
Fluttershy lowered her head a bit, but it wasn't like she was trying to hide from the question. She looked like she was thinking of both of the paths in front of her. "I don't know. I still wonder what will happen when the doctor takes off the bandages, but I'm not scared anymore. The only thing I'm really worried about is what will happen to the animals."
Pinkie instantly brushed it off. "Don't worry about it. With the five of us helping and with several kids who would love to learn about what you do, you'll be fine."
Fluttershy smiled. She enjoyed Pinkie's optimism. As she listened to Pinkie hop down she walked over to where she was. "So, what else do you have planned today?"
"Well, the others are going to be pretty busy with the school today, and I didn't have much of a plan for today."
A small grin formed on Fluttershy's face as an idea came to her. "Um, are you okay with me trying something?"
Fluttershy could only guess what Pinkie's face looked like. "Um, okie dokie. What are you planning?"
Fluttershy started making her way to the pathway in front of her house. "You'll see."
Fluttershy listened as the pink pony bounced behind her. "Ooooooooooo, things are always fun when you get sassy."
========================================================================
All of the students were confused when they were asked to assemble in Fluttershy's class.
As everybody made their way to their seats Gallus leaned over to Smolder. "Do you have any idea why we were dragged into here?"
Smolder shrugged. "I only know as much as you do, which is nothing. Frankly I'm a bit more worried about..."
She was instantly cut off by Fluttershy's voice. "Thank you all for coming today. I hope you all studied what we were talking about last time. We are going to be continuing the study of herds and how they function."
Everybody was shocked that Fluttershy was actually there with her eyes still bandaged. Gallus was about to raise his claw, but he realized that it was a pretty dumb idea. "Uh, are you sure you can teach us? You are still... Uh."
Fluttershy figured that he wouldn't be able to finish the sentence he started. "Don't worry. I'm still able to teach you what I know, but don't expect me to reference the books. So, last week we talked about how stronger members of the pack will often be expected to help lead and carry the pack. Today we will talk about how all of the members of the pack work together to care for the young and get food. Quick Step, is it alright if you wait until the class is over before you walk out?"
Everypony turned to see a earth pony who was trying to sneak out of his seat. He looked confused and embarrassed. "How did you know?"
Fluttershy grinned. "I simply heard you moving. Now let's continue."
The rest of the class went rather smoothly. All of the kids were amazed by Fluttershy's skills, but they all realized that her blindness didn't really change her. She was still the kind, soft spoken teacher she always was. It was weird when she was able to tell when they were whispering.
As the class finished and everybody was starting to make her way to the next class Starlight Glimmer walked in. "Hey Fluttershy. I didn't expect you to try being here until after the doctor checks on you."
Fluttershy just smiled as she picked up a card that a young pony left her. Admittedly it wasn't the smartest gift, but it was the thought that counted. "I was, but a pony named Summer Dew encouraged me to not let my eyes restrict me. I might not be able to go over written tests anymore, but I can still help these kids. Twilight approved it, so here I am."
Starlight placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I was actually hoping that you could help me with somepony. Were you able to tell who was missing from class?"
Fluttershy tried thinking about it. The only way she was able to tell who was whispering was by remembering the seating arrangement. When everyone was walking in and out she couldn't distinguish whose steps belonged to who. "I don't know."
Starlight sighed. "Silverstream hasn't come to class for the last few days. She has confided herself to her bedroom. It just started with her not paying attention in class, but it got worse since then. She's still upset about what happened to you. I've tried talking to her, but she's not even talking to her friends at this point. If this gets any worse... I'd hate to think about what she would do."
Fluttershy was shocked by what she had heard. She didn't think how much Silverstream was personally hurting until now. She took a deep breath as she started thinking about what Silver has been through. "So she's still in her room?"
"Yes. She hasn't even eaten for the last two days. It's starting to affect her health. If this continues I'll have to call for her parents. I thought it might be better if you talked to her personally."
Fluttershy could feel the tension in Starlight's voice. She only had one question for her. "Why haven't you brought this to me sooner?"
"I thought you were still struggling with your own problems. I didn't want to make things worse for either of you."
Fluttershy sighed. "I understand. Can you take me to her room. I'm not too familiar with the dorms."
Starlight took her hoof as if to say yes. They made their way down the hallways until Fluttershy could hear a door open in front of her.
Starlight tried to speak softly. "Hi Silver. How are you feeling?"
"Leave me alone."
Fluttershy couldn't hear any energy in Silver's voice. It sounded flat and empty. If she wasn't being led by Starlight she never would have guessed it was her. Fluttershy felt like it was a good idea to speak up. "Hi Silver. May I come in?"
Fluttershy could hear the faint sound of bed sheets rustling. Finally a small voice spoke up. "Okay."
Fluttershy slowly made her way in. She was cautious because she wasn't sure what all was in the room. She was literally walking blind into this. Starlight led her to what she assumed was the edge of a bed. They were all silent for a moment as Fluttershy was trying to think about what to say. "I heard you were having problems."
A weak voice replied to her. "Are you going to get your sight back, or is this permanent?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't know yet. I want to talk to you about what happened. I haven't told anypony about this, but after I lost my vision I was angry."
Fluttershy could hear Starlight's nervous chuckle. "Um, I don't think we should..."
Fluttershy raised a hoof. "Um, I'd like to finish. I was mad at Discord for not being able to help me. I was mad at you and Pinkie Pie for letting this happen, but there was one pony that I hated the most. Me. I so scared about never seeing again that I started to isolate myself. I was visiting with my friends, but my heart wasn't there. I wanted things to go back to where they were, but I had to accept that it might not happen. I had to get over being angry at the world and learn to live with it. I had to stop pitying myself and just move forward. I'm not mad at you anymore. The only pony that still holds a grudge against you now is you. I forgive you for what happened. Can you forgive yourself?"
After a moment of silence Fluttershy felt Silver's arms wrap around her as Silver started crying. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you. I couldn't do anything. If I never mixed that stuff you never would have gotten hurt. I'm... I'm so sorry."
Fluttershy pulled her into a hug. "Shhh. It's alright. You never could have known what would happen. It's not your fault."
Fluttershy continued to hug her as those built up emotions finally escaped. After Silver was through crying Fluttershy could hear her trying to get up, but only to fall on the floor. Fluttershy and Starlight helped her up on to her hooves. They could tell that the last two days with no food and not moving exhausted her. They helped her to the cafeteria where they helped her regain her strength. Both Starlight and Silver were a bit shocked when Fluttershy asked if they had any cupcakes for dessert. They spent the rest of the day talking about the last week. Fluttershy actually did most of the talking. She explained what happened to her since the incident. They didn't pay much attention to the other students who were listening.
Soon the sun had set and Starlight knew that Fluttershy had to go home and rest for tomorrow. As Starlight helped Fluttershy up Silver asked one last question. "When will you know If you'll be able to see again?"
Fluttershy smiled. "Tomorrow. Don't worry about it. I know everything will be fine no matter what happens."
As Fluttershy made her way outside she felt a form of confidence come over her. There were only a few hours till her fate was sealed, but there was nothing holding her down anymore. She had full faith that she wouldn't have to fear whatever the future held for her.
Fluttershy got up rather slowly that day. She knew what awaited her. Even though she knew she didn't have to fear this anymore, but it still felt like that there was a knot in her stomach. She felt Angel give her a small hug as she left her bed.
Fluttershy sighed. "I know angel. Today is the day."
Fluttershy made her way down the slide that she was finally used to. As she walked into the kitchen she heard Discord in there trying to act optimistic and cheerful. "Good morning Fluttershy. I thought I'd be a darling Draconequus and make some breakfast. Do you like fruit salad. Admittedly I did toss the stuff all over the place, but the animals love it."
Fluttershy nodded and sat down to a large bowl with only a little bit of fruit in it. She was pretty silent as she ate.
Discord knew that his chaos wouldn't be able to ease the tension much. "How are you feeling."
Fluttershy nervously chuckled at the thought of what what was going to happen. "Nervous. I know that I don't have to worry about what will happen to me if I'm blind, but I'm still wondering what will happen when the doctor takes off my bandages."
Fluttershy could feel discord give her a gentle hug. "I understand. Well, not really. I guess it's be like me turning int an earth pony and not knowing if I'd be able to turn back. All I can say is that I'll be there no matter what happens. If anything the animals will have to get used to having me around."
Fluttershy smiled. "Will you be there?"
Discord sighed. "I'd love to, but Celly insists that I show up to talk to her as a part of my parole. Are you okay with this? I could turn Celly's cakes into brussel sprouts. That'll keep her busy."
Fluttershy would have rolled her eyes if they weren't covered. "It's alright. I don't want you to get in trouble with her again."
Discord chuckled. "Hey, I only messed with her cake 217 times. She'll get used to it." Fluttershy just shook her head no. "Alright, if you want this to be a boring meeting. I'll be back as soon as Celly is done playing 20 questions."
Fluttershy smiled. As she finished her meal she heard a knock on the door. Discord snapped his fingers and Spike was instantly teleported inside the room.
As Spike was trying to get his bearings Discord started joking with him. "Where have you been? Your mother and I have been worried sick about you. Have you eaten? You looked starved. I'll make you some breakfast, but this is the last time I'll let you go out for a night at Timmy's house."
Spike chuckled a bit. "Very funny Discord. I'm just here to take Fluttershy to the castle."
Fluttershy slowly stood up. "Wish me luck Discord."
As she started to walk out the door she heard Discord speak up. "Hey Spike. Give her these when she gets the results."
Fluttershy could hear something teleport into Spikes arms. As they walked out Fluttershy asked the obvious question. "What did he give me?"
"Flowers."
Fluttershy was a little curious by receiving a rather simple gift from the lord of chaos. "Really?"
She could hear Spike smell the flowers. "They do smell like cotton candy."
She gave a small laugh as she admired his chaotic way of caring.
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Everybody was nervously waiting in the throne room of the castle. Everybody was silent as they waited for Eagle Eye to show up. The tension was so thick that not even Pinkie Pie was talking. Nobody knew what to say. Even with all that they have been through they couldn't help but feel a sense of powerlessness.
Once again it was Dash who had to break the silence. "Arg! What's taking that doctor so long? Does he always have to keep us waiting all day?"
Twilight sighed. "He didn't give us a specific time. I guess there's nothing we can do for now but wait."
Dash just groaned as she slumped back into her seat. "He could literally wait until Luna sets the moon up in the shy. Is he planning on catching the last train to Ponyville?"
Applejack placed a hoof on Dashes shoulder. "Frankly it is a little nerve racking waiting to find out what will happen."
While the other girls were talking Rarity noticed Fluttershy's nervousness. "Are you okay darling?"
Fluttershy's head was still lowered. "I don't know. I can't tell what I'm supposed to feel right now. It feels like I'm Dash waiting for the next Daring Do book."
Dash pulled the book out from under her seat. "Hey! I'm only halfway through this one. It's not like I'm just waiting day and night in front of a bookstore waiting for the next book."
Pinkie smiled and jumped behind Dash. "Of course not! You usually start the week after you're done."
Everybody chuckled at the joke. Fluttershy could feel a small relief from having her friends around her. She smiled as she turned to them. "Thank you girls. I don't know how I could do this without you."
Twilight was glad to see a smile on Fluttershy's face. "It's what friends are for. Whenever you need help we can always drop everything to help you."
As everybody gathered into a group hug they heard Starlight walk in. "I'm guessing I missed something again."
Twilight chuckled. "Nothing much. Just us all remembering what it means to be a true friend."
Starlight smiled as he used her magic to open the other door. "I'm glad you learned that again. Well, I hope you're all ready. I ran into our friend on the way in."
As the door was opened Eagle Eye walked in. "Good morning everybody. I'm sorry for being late. This is my first time in Ponyville and this castle is a bit of a maze. You might want to consider a doorbell."
As Twilight started to make a note to the list of things she needs in the castle Fluttershy walked forward. "How are you doing doctor?"
His eyes perked up when he saw her in a fairly good mood. "I'm doing fine. I'm glad you were able to keep your spirits up. It's a hard thing to do in times like this. Are you ready for the moment of truth?"
Fluttershy took a few deep breaths before answering. "No, but that hasn't stopped me yet. Let's do this, um, if that's alright with you."
Eagle smiled as he got out his medical kit. "Alright. Is it alright if you all close the doors? I don't want to expose her eyes to too much sunlight yet."
Dash nodded as she quickly closed the doors.
Eagle took a deep breath as he got out a pair of thin scissors. "Alright Fluttershy, I want you to place your hooves in front of your face and close you eyes."
Fluttershy nodded and did what he said. Everybody watched as he cut the bandages off of her. He proceeded to take them and throw them away. All that was left was a couple of small pads that covered her eyes. He took both of them and threw them away as well.
Everybody held their breath as Eagle continued. "Alright, now open your eyes slowly and tell me what you see."
Everyone could see her open those light blue eyes that were lost to the world for so long. She squinted at first while having to blink several times. Her eyes were focused on her hooves.
After a few seconds that felt like hours she finally spoke. "Good... Better..."
An exited look came over Eagles face. "You can see?!? How good is your vision?"
Fluttershy turned over to him. "I think Rarity is going to ask you out for a date."
Eagle chuckled a bit. "She's going to be upset when she finds out I'm married."
As tears started running Fluttershy's cheek everybody swarmed her with a group hug. The pure joy in the room was unmeasurable. Eagle smiled as he watched this scene unfold.
Dash was the first pony to thank Eagle. "You did it doc! You actually did it!"
Eagle pulled a pair of dark sunglasses out of his bag as he smiled. "The body did most of the work. I only played a small role in helping it along. I think you all did more to restore her vision than I did. Fluttershy, I want you to wear these for the rest of the day. Going from pure darkness to good vision can have it's affects. I don't want you to expose your eyes to strong lights till tomorrow. I'll fill out a prescription for some eye drops for you just in case. If your vision gets worse of if there's any other problems I want you to see a doctor right away."
As he started to make his way to the door Fluttershy called out to him. "Uh, Dr Eagle! Thank you."
He smiled again before he walked out.
Pinkie Pie started bouncing around the room. "IknewitIknewitIknewit! We need to have a big "Fluttershy got her vision back" party! We won't play pin the tail on the donkey though. It'll be weird. We might have to wait till tomorrow so nobody will think that she's still blind, and I can use the disco ball."
As Pinky Pie started ranting about her plans Twilight noticed Fluttershy was still looking at her hoof with tears running down her cheek. Twilight wrapped a hoof around her. "Are you alright?"
Fluttershy nodded as she was still crying these joyful tears. "Yes. It's just that I got to experience my life without my eyes, and then I got them back."
====================================================================
Fluttershy made her way outside wearing her new shades. Her senses were almost overwhelmed by everything she saw. She could once again see the trees swaying, the ponies doing their daily routine, the blue sky, and so many other things that she once took for granted. As she started wondering around town she saw an earth pony who wore dark shades. She had a yellow coat and an orange mane. Her cutie mark was a rain drop that reflected the sun. Fluttershy only had one guess of who that was.
She quickly made her way over to her. "Summer Dew, is that you?"
The pony grinned and turned to her. "I hope so. It'd be strange if it wasn't. It's nice to hear your voice again Fluttershy. What's the news?"
"I can see again! My vision is back." As Fluttershy was sharing her excitement she instantly realized what she was boasting about to her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. I was just exited."
Summer just chuckled. "Why would I be mad from hearing that my friend got better. You don't need to be scared of offending me just because I'm always going to be blind. I'd never want you to stay hurt."
Fluttershy was glad that she was so understanding. "Thank you. That wasn't just for understanding, but for helping me. I didn't think about how I could live with being blind until you stepped in. You please forgive my wording opened my eyes to a whole new world."
Summer smiled. "Do you want to know something? I've met several ponies who have accidents that lead to disabilities. Somehow I always seem to find them. Once they can get past the pain and worry they tend to find that they can always keep moving. I don't have a real job, but this is what I'm good at. Helping them get past the tears and back into the sunlight. I should be thanking you Fluttershy. It's ponies like you who give my life meaning."
Before Shy could say anything they heard a male voice calling for Summer. She smiled and gave Shy a hug before walking away. Fluttershy could only smile as she reflected on the last week.
No matter how dark things tend to get there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Never give up on life. No matter how broken you are there is always hope, and who knows? You might find yourself stronger than ever before.
