Shaded Eye’s
The wind rustled through the Evergreen forest howling as it passed by every open crevice available. A small charcoal colt walked wearily throughout it, he was trying not to attract any unwanted attention to himself. The small pony’s hooves clacked now and then when hitting a rock or lone stick on the ground. He thought to himself ‘It’s really quiet tonight, where are the owls and Timberwolves?’ He often traveled through these forests when going to Zecora’s and back to Ponyville. He brushed off his worries though and continued on, his purple mane now and then whipped back with the wind but other than that the night was still. The lunar clock struck 2 a.m. and he had just reached the outer reaches of the forest. The small unicorn looked back at the forest; it still hadn’t moved an inch since he started his journey back to his home town. He didn’t make it but two feet when he heard a scream omit from the forest. He whisked his head around and looked at the forest, was someone hurt? He re-entered and called out to the unknown noise.
“Hello! Who’s there!? I’m here to help you!” the unicorn ran around frantically, searching for who made the noise.
The search almost came to an end when he didn’t hear anything again from anypony. He walked in between a few trees and looked around. He didn’t pay much attention to where he was stepping he just trotted. The unaware colt should’ve paid more attention; he walked too far towards the edge of a ditch and fell in screaming himself.
“Ow…what the?” he looked up to see it was at least a two foot drop, “I need to pay more attention before I end up missing myself…”
A loud rustling sound came from in front of him, his ears perked up and he walked towards it. Maybe this was what screamed in the first place! Small whimpering sounds echoed out to him, someone obviously was there but whom? He tried his best to have some sort of magic light come from his horn; he needed to see what was there. Luckily even though it was a small amount of light, it worked nicely in the unending dark. At first he couldn’t make out what laid there in front of him, but as he grew closer a small filly became apparent.
“Hey girl! Are you ok?” the pony backed away further, searching for where the sound came from, “Girl! Can you see me?” He stared into her eyes to see a thick cloud over them. She’s blind; he reached out to her and grabbed her sides. “It’s Ok, I’m here for you. My name is Shaded Aurora.”
She finally found the source of the voice and looked up at him, she tried to make out if he was a pony or not but many creatures have hooves. He could be a mule for all she knows, she crawled towards him. Her tan coat was soaked with mud and the electric blue mane she sported was engulfed in leaves and branches of all sorts. Shade looked even close to realize that she was a Pegasus, he sighed. He knew that a Pegasus with no sight would have a hard time flying or doing anything at that matter. He pulled her frail body towards him and tried to put her on his back, but he was only a foal. He’d try his best though.
“What’s your name?” he asked kindly while hoisting her onto his back.
She again searched for his voice, when found she sadly smiled and squeaked out “I-I’m Owl Eyes.”
He smiled and nodded, finally her body was on his back to where he could walk with her. He wished he was the one with the wings instead of her, his magic wasn’t strong enough to carry her but he stopped complaining and continued on with his work. He slowly got them out of the ditch and headed back to Ponyville like he originally was. The two of them didn’t talk much and eventually Owl fell asleep, her dead weight didn’t help him much. When he got out of the forest and on the right path to Ponyville, Owl woke up and yawned sweetly.
“You’re awake! Good, you must’ve been tired. How long were you running around that forest?” he asked curiously while he still carried both of their weights to town.
She stayed quiet for a few and then answered, “I don’t know… I don’t know…” she began to whimper again, eventually her whimpering turned into sobs. Her tears soaked Shade’s coat, but he didn’t fight her on it. Usually he’d get angry with people who cried.
“Hey its fine, you don’t have to know. Your ok kid, I found yah. You’re just lucky you weren’t Timber Wolf stew.” He sighed and continued to stare off into the distance. Again they both were silent; the filly obviously hadn’t had much contact with other ponies.
The light of Ponyville started to shine in the sky when they got closer. Two hour’s had passed and Celestia had hinted the suns arrival on the horizon. Neither of them got much sleep he assumed which was probably right. He sighed a sigh of relief when he saw the tops of the Carrousel Boutique, he’s never been so happy to see something related to Rarity. Again the filly fell asleep, he was envious of her he wanted sleep himself. He knocked loudly with his hooves on the door to the dress shop. Nobody answered; he decided that he’d use what he’s good at. Breaking the rules, his horn glowed an orangeish red color and *CLICK* the door opened. That was too easy he thought, at least when he stowed away at Twilight’s he had to actually but effort in picking the lock. He carried them both in and shut the door; the beautiful palace was grimly dark. He found a stack of fabric and gently lowered Owl Eyes onto it.
“Good Night Owl.” He whispered and fell asleep next to her.
Shade pried his eyes open and observed his unfamiliar surroundings, a purple shadow cast itself across the room as the sun had brightened it while rising. A sweet aroma flowed through the parlor and crossed his nose; hypnotized by the smell of maybe a pancake of some sort cooking in the kitchen. He snapped out of it and realized that Rarity was obviously awake, and that means she’d yell at him. He stood up and tried to trot away quietly but remembered about Owl Eyes. Where was she though? That blind filly must’ve gotten herself lost, or worst found.
“Don’t go anywhere, we need to talk.” A familiar regal tone sounded from the kitchen.
He growled and walked in to the lovely smelling room to see Owl Eyes and Rarity cooking what he had expected. Owl Eyes wasn’t really cooking though, she was sitting. Sitting and enjoying the smell of whatever Rarity was preparing. Rarity acted with grace, every movement beautiful to compete with herself. Shade knew he was in trouble though, so he didn’t comment on the food or on anything in general. He just sat next to Owl and waited patiently. He waited for whatever punishment he knew was coming; this wasn’t the first time Rarity had found him in her home uninvited. The last time he was found in her home he was stealing a roll of fabric to use as a blanket, an expensive sheet too. She didn’t contact the police though, there wasn’t any reason too. She just scolded him for an hour or two and sent him on his way. Although Rarity being Rarity gave him a big enough piece of it to use as a blanket. He knew this time was different though; he broke into her house and brought someone with him.
“Shade, darling, haven’t we been in this situation before?” she asked while plating a few pancakes.
“Rarity, I think it’s different this time.” He whined slightly presenting his case as any child would.
“Shade, do not get me wrong, I do like you. You cannot break into my house though and steal fillies while you are at it.”
She brought over the plates, syrup, and other essential pancake eating ingredients to the table with her magic.
“I didn’t steal her Rarity, I found her. She’s blind Rarity!” he pointed to her eyes.
“H-he didn’t steal me, miss…” a frail soft voice overcame the two of them, “I fell and he found me.”
Rarity looked at her, trying to see if anything could be read out of blind pony’s eyes. The truth was there though, and she nodded silently. “Well, ok. Come and eat you two.”
Shade nudged Owl Eyes over to the table by having her follow his voice. She wasn’t very capable of even eating by herself, finding the pancakes were hard. She’d now and then jab the table with her fork, which made Rarity flinch. The beautiful wood of her table cried every time and so did the white pony. Shade got annoyed by this though and ended up helping her anyways. His magic glowed and he lifted the fork up and helped feed her. He didn’t care too much, even though he acted like he did. Owl Eyes happily accepted the help; she seemed to have recently become blind. He didn’t say anything though, nopony did.
“Shade, what are you planning on doing now?” Rarity picked up the plates, while Shade helped pick up a few things here and there.
“I don’t know Rarity; I need to find a stable place for us. I’ve gotta watch her ya know?” sorrow passed through him, he had a responsibility now. Something he’d never had to think about before.
“Well come back anytime, just don’t sleep on my fabric. Come up to my room there is a couch in there. You both can stay there for the time being.” She walked off before he could deny, and went to her room.
“She’s nice, Shade.” Owl Eyes smiled at him, only knowing his position because of the past conversation.
He shook his head and explained where she was, the way the room looked. He talked to her about how Rarity looked, telling her that Rarity was a white pony with a dark purple tail to make her complete. Shade asked Owl if she had always been blind, she shook her head but didn't proceed to explain. This bothered him, but he didn’t pursue to get an answer, he didn’t want to hurt her. Owl Eyes trotted around here and there but didn't venture to far from the kitchen, it was the most familiar place to her in the house. Shade eventually pushed her out of there and got her to where Rarity worked on her clothing. He knew this place quite well, this is where he found the fabric that one day. He explained the relationship between him and Rarity, Owl giggled some to herself and stared at a light source she could sense. Mostly by the heat the sun produced through the window but a change in the dark room. Shade smiled, he hoped that she'd get her vision back. Mostly because he didn't want to feed her everytime but also because he couldn't stand it himself if he was blind. He didn't laugh though when Owl Eyes would bump into things, he helped her up if she tripped. The only questions he'd ask was if she was ok and usually her sweet smile would show and she'd say yep. They didn't go anywhere that day, just stayed in Rarity's house and mustered around looking things. Shade eventually grew tired, he was just a colt, and laid down on the couch Rarity suggested. Owl followed of course and laid next to him, curling snugly into his side and resting her head on his back. A comfort for her he thought, but again didn't say anything.
