LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
It is rather funny how one small mistake can utterly destroy a life through no fault of their own. It was a normal day like any other for Sergeant Aluma. A combat veteran with over ten years in the Royal Guard, was going through the motions of teaching new recruits the finer details of the Art of the Sword. She was well renowned for her prowess in the subject, having distinguished herself among the many skirmishes she fought in. The crown had seen fit to reassign her to an instructor role, to help teach a new generation of Royal Guards. And even if she hadn’t distinguished herself, the numerous battle scars clearly visible left no room for argument from the recruits. And yet, despite all of her action, she had come out on top with no loss of life, limb, or eyesight. It was a blessing she thanked the gods everyday for. However, that was soon to change.
After demonstrating the proper form of swinging a sword, she broke the recruits up into pairs so they could practice. One recruit would swing their sword in a sidewards arching motion, while the other student would try to block or parry. It was a training situation that would be rather unsafe, unless certain safety equipment was implemented. One such piece of equipment was the sword used by all recruits. It was found to be more effective at training guards with the use of a real sword, versus a wooden one. To overcome this safety obstacle, enchantments were placed onto every training sword so that if the sword would cause bodily harm, a small magic field would encase the blade creating a blunt object rather than a thin cutting surface. Suffice to say, it still hurt to get hit by one, which made the recruits much faster learners. It just so happened that several recruits were testing the safety enchantments of the swords, giving the observing pegasus a chuckle every time somepony failed to block. Granted, it was expected since most of the recruits only had a day or two of previous swordsmareship experience. It wasn’t until she got near one of the last pairs of recruits that horror struck her face. Being around training swords for the past two years, it was easy for the pegasus to instantly distinguish a training sword from a real one. And somehow, someway, the recruit swinging their sword was in fact, using a real one. She didn’t have time to think as her body moved on pure instinct. Bursting forwards with a flap of her wings, the instructor tried to pull the blocking recruit out of the way. She was not fast enough, though she managed to slightly move the mare so the sword traveled along her helmet and forehead, creating a nasty scar but otherwise keeping her intact. However, from the trajectory of the sword and laser focus of the recruit swinging it, the sword continued along its path, at the eye-level of the pegasus. It was the last thing she saw before she fell to the ground with a scream. The sword had cut cleanly along her eyes, leaving a pool of gushing blood as another instructor ran over. It didn’t take long to transport her and the other recruit from the training field to the castle infirmary. Despite their best efforts though, there was nothing they could do to save her sight. It was one of the most heartbreaking things the mare had ever been told.
Aluma continued her stay in the castle infirmary for the next several weeks. Luckily, she was comforted by her fiance, Feather Cuckoo, or so she thought. At first, she was elated that he was there to support her through her most difficult time in life. He swore on everything that he would stay by her side no matter what. It put her mind at ease, though there was always that nagging feeling that something still wasn’t right. About a month later, she found out why.
His visits, which were several hours a day, began to become less frequent in the subsequent weeks. He would make up excuses of working extra hours or researching ways to bring her eyesight back. It wasn’t until a letter arrived for the mare that everything became clear. That letter, those words, that was the lowest point in her life. And he didn’t even have the gall to say them to her face. One of the poor nurses had to read the letter aloud to her, embarrassing the poor sergeant even further.
Dear Aluma,
I am sorry, but I can’t do this anymore. It’s not you, it’s me. Ever since the accident, I have been trying my best, but I just can’t. The stress is just too much for me. Know that I still love you forever and always, but I can’t be with you anymore. Please understand.
With Love, Feather Cuckoo
It was then that everything came crashing down on the mare. She was barely able to hold herself together long enough to excuse the nurse before she burst into tears. One mistake had cost her everything. Her life, her job, her self-reliance, and her self-worth, gone in the blink of an eye. She had nothing. No family, no job, nopony to care for her, and it wasn’t even her fault. She just happened to do the right thing and ended up paying the price for it. It was the lowest point in her entire life.
A week or so after the letter had arrived, Sergeant Aluma was moved over to the assisted living barracks. It didn’t take long for word to spread of what happened to her, and by the time somepony was able to check on her apartment off post, it had been cleaned out by the bastard of a stallion. Luckily, she only lost a couple thousand bits in the joint account she had with him, as they had not combined savings accounts yet. Still, she was left with next to nothing aside from a few personal memorabilia which the stallion had passed over in her apartment. It was also during this time that an incident report was published detailing everything that led up to the accident. One pony. That’s all it took. Only one pony to cause everything that happened to her.
Ingot Well, a seasoned veteran of the guard for more than six years became complacent in his job. His quality and inventory checks had been slipping as the years went on. And during the last inventory check, he found a particular sword to be missing. Now, standard protocol is to report the missing sword to higher ups so that it could be located, including inventorying all pieces of equipment in the blacksmith shop. This would take over a week at most, but normally put the smithing shop out of commission for a few days. Instead, the stallion reported the sword accounted for, confident that it had been misplaced and that it would turn up in a week or two, which is what normally happened in these types of instances. Sadly, that was not the case and the sword had managed to make its way into a batch of training swords. The repercussions for the oversight in judgment were heavy.
Ingot Well was dishonorably discharged from the Royal Guard and sentenced to a minimum of three years in prison. He tried to fight his case, but the result of Sergeant Aluma losing her eyesight and being permanently blinded helped sway the judge in sentencing the stallion. Still, it did nothing to help Sergeant Aluma. She took little satisfaction that his life was in shambles, because in three years, he would be out of prison and free to do whatever he pleases, within probation. Her, on the other hand, was still blind, and would be forever. The thought alone made the mare seethe with anger, though there was still nothing she could do to change it.
As the weeks turned into months and the months turned into a year, the mare continued to fall deeper and deeper into a depression. Everyday was a constant reminder of her disability and inability to be self-reliant. She struggled most days getting out of bed as she felt she had no purpose in life. It was shortly after this time though, that she met someone who would change her life.
News about his arrival quickly spread, with everypony talking about the subject. Human, he called himself. It was the first time in over two-thousand years that a human had found their way to Equestria. How he came to exist in this world was also a hot topic. Some claimed he was from the stars, an alien traveling in a spaceship to seek out distant lands. Others thought it was a spell from Princess Twilight Sparkle, bringing the human to this world to teach him about the wonders of friendship. The truth was though, that the Spirit of Chaos had made a grievous miscalculation during one of his pranks, forcing the unsuspecting human into this world. To make matters worse, his arrival had injured the poor human leading him to his current predicament.
Several doors down from the pegasus, the human casually sipped a cup of coffee as both Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia wore somber expressions on their faces.
“Once again we would like to apologize for everything that has happened to you. We know that none of this is your fault and we take full responsibility for everything that has happened.” Twilight Sparkle spoke before growing quiet.
“W-We also have some bad news. The spell that sent you here is very complicated, even for a God of Chaos to perform. Despite his demeanor he had no intention of summoning you here. He honestly doesn’t even remember what modifications he made to the spell since he made so many. Which brings me to another point. The spell that he used was an asynchronous spell. Asynchronous spells are very useful when you don’t want somepony to find out the location of where the spell originated from. In other words…” Twilight tried to continue but was cut off.
“It was a one way trip,” the voice of the human spoke. It was a melodic baritone voice that spoke of experience and understanding. He set his cup of coffee down with a sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose in thought.
“Yes, that is correct,” Celestia added, before trying to help the situation.
“We know this is hard for you and you have every right to be mad. Please know that that no ill intent was had. We promise that you will be looked after and cared for for the rest of your time here in Equestria. You will be given citizenship and a sizable stipend every month so that you may live in comfort. We hope that you can experience the joys Equestria has to offer and if you need anything from us at all, all you have to do is ask,” Celestia finished. Silence continued to permeate the room before another sigh escaped the human’s lips.
“I would like to be alone now,” he said. Nodding in understanding, Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight both exited the room before making their way down hall. It was only about thirty seconds that a single word resonated throughout the entire building.
FUUUUUUUUUUCK!
Sergeant Aluma, who had heard the noise, could only chuckle to herself.
Heh, he’s got a good set of lungs.
