Chapters You awake with a start, as the shrill buzz of the train speaker sounds. The announcer's voice begins to pipe into the room, a bit of a tinny, irritating noise, slightly higher pitched than would be comfortable.
"We will be arriving to Ponyville in about 5 minutes. Passengers may prepare as we arrive shortly."
Almost there, I guess... you think to yourself.
You let out a small yawn as you stretch tiredly in your seat. You're a bit nervous about the move, though you try not to show it. How will the residents of Ponyville react to your condition when you tell them? Will they react the same way the students did from your former school, turning you into an outcast? Are you doomed to a life on the move, simply traveling from town to town, never finding a place to be?
You shake your head rapidly, to clear your mind of these overly anxious thoughts. There's no need to let your imagination get the better of you, things will be fine... right? With a sinking feeling in your stomach, you stretch your neck, trying to release the tension from sleeping on such an uncomfortable chair.
The noise of snoring coming from next to you catches your attention, rough and gravelly, but not low pitched. Your brother was still asleep, apparently. When your father snored, it sounded like a saw attempting to cut through granite. Your brother's snores were more of a whining cacophony like rocks caught in a blender. The high pitched noise betrays his ability to sleep.
It's amazing how heavy a sleeper he actually is. You can't count how many alarm clocks your parents have had to purchase for him. They never seemed to be loud enough. Your parents eventually gave up, when they purchased an certain alarm clock that was loud enough to wake up the entire house, if not the neighborhood, and it still wasn't enough for him. Sometimes you wonder how he isn't deaf, at this point.
"Hey, Kenny. Wake up." You call to him, while reaching over and shaking his shoulder.
He keeps snoring, though you notice him shuffle slightly. He might be listening, at least... "Hey Kenny, there's a girl on the phone that wants to talk to you. Should I tell her you're asleep? Something about a massage."
Once your words reach the very boundaries of his eardrums, the particular topics of "girl", "talk", and "massage" trigger an amount of energy you've never seen before. He jolts upright, and you can feel the air rushing past your face to the point where you realize his flailing arm whizzed less than an inch away from your face. He shakes himself awake, and looks around as his eyes adjust, eyes gaping like those of an overweight man surveying a buffet made entirely of bacon.
"What? Where? Who? Girls?"
You chuckle at his sudden energy and interest in the situation.
"Heh, Get up dude. We need to get ready to go, almost there."
For as long as you can remember, your brother has always been interested in girls, more so than a normal guy should be. It seems that the opposite gender is always foremost on his mind, although he's never been very good with relationships anyway. All of his attempts to connect with people never work. It wasn't like he was ugly or anything, he was just a complete idiot, when it came to words.
His methods of asking out women were... less than orthodox.
His worst, and most memorable attempt, you were fortunate enough to witness. You overheard him talking to a girl with an overly masculine voice, and his method of inviting her to a movie was pretty entertaining.
"Hey how's it going I'm Kenny want to go to a movie sometime maybe?" His jumbled sentence flowed out of his mouth like water over the rapids, and the girl was so startled that she actually ran away.
You chuckled a bit, hearing the memory of the girl's rapidly stumbled excuse to leave. Kenny, hearing your quiet outburst, turns his head toward you. You can only assume he's glaring.
"What are you laughing about?" He asks, bitterly.
"It's nothing." You reply, quickly. Your brother had always been fairly relaxed, but he was quick to defend himself in a conversation, even when no one was talking about him. You remain silent for a moment, contemplating your brother's personality, when his voice echoes through your mind once more.
"So, you excited about this new school?" He asks. You clear your throat, and lean against the corner of the wall and the back of the seat.
"I'm more nervous about it than anything. How do you think they'll react to me? You don't think they'll be scared of me, do you?" A pensive silence hangs in the air. Kenny breaks the silence with a laugh.
"You shouldn't be worried about all that, man. I'm sure they'll think you're cool. You're a blind guy who can see, how rare is that? Students totally dig different people man, they'll all want to hang with you." You consider this, for a moment.
"...I guess I see your point, no pun intended. What about you? Are you excited?" You have to ask. You feel kind of bad, it seems like it's your fault that he has to transfer schools with you anyway. He laughs again, and you can almost feel his happiness reverberating around the room. You can't help but wonder what's got him so upbeat.
"Excited? You've got no idea, brother. See, I did some research about this town, Ponyville. Guess what I found out? The female to male ratio here is off by a huge margin. This town is filled with single girls!" Of course. Women. You decide to have a little fun, at your brother's expense.
"Oh, may Celestia have mercy on those poor souls..." you say, in a mock-sad tone.
"Hey! Make fun of me all you want, but you know that the moment I come home from school, I'll have EVERY girl in town dying to see me." You see the opportunity, and bite back, using your sharp wit to your advantage.
"Well, you got the dying part right. I'm just not sure if it's going to be because they want to see you." Kenny is silent, dumbstruck for a moment. You hear him chuckle softly. It sounds like he's planning something.
"Alright then, how about a bet?" Ah, here comes the interesting part. You can tell that this is going to be good. You put on your best poker face, and reply calmly.
"What do you have in mind, Ken?" You knew how much he hated his abbreviated name. You hear his laughter catch in his throat, and his voice takes on an irritated tone. You've got him now.
"I bet you twenty bits that by the end of the day, I get a date." You smile inwardly. You know your brother's habits, and you can tell you're going to be twenty bits richer. In fact, you're confident enough to raise the stakes.
"Oh really? I'll take that bet, but I'll up the ante. Thirty bits says you'll scare off the first girl you talk to." Kenny takes a sharp breath. Thirty bits was a lot for a student. Even without a date to go on, that was enough to pay for a nice meal, or even a couple CD's to spend the time alone. He tries to save face with a false laugh, but you know now that he's not too confident.
"I didn't think you want to lose so badly." He says, now holding his false confidence well.
"I would've said the same to you, brother." You say, equally cocky.
You stretch out your hand to seal the deal, and he does the same.
"Bring."
"It."
"On!"
Your fates, as well as your bits, are sealed. You think of what to do with the money that you will inevitably win.
Betting on things with your brother has been a tradition between you two for as long as you can recall. If either of you get the chance to prove each other wrong, you both jump on the gambling train, with no regrets until the money has switched hands. It's almost as though he's got some kind of a brotherly Napoleon Complex.
The irritating buzz of the speaker comes on again, "We are now arriving at Ponyville Train Station. Passengers please wait until train doors open in order to exit. Thank you for using Equestrian Train Service, and have a nice day."
You feel the speed of the train slowing down until it goes to a complete halt, you hear the squeaking and rattling of wheels on steel quiet to silence. As you hear the high pitched whirring noise of the train doors opening, your family begins to carry the luggage out and away from the train station, and then towards what you can only assume is the town. You follow the voices of your family.
The setting is unfamiliar to you, but that's to be expected. You've never been to this town, after all. You listen around, trying to get a feel for the immediate area. Aside from the sounds of movement, you can feel that you're in a fairly narrow street, you can tell that the space around you is filled with others walking around. Their movements create a haze, somewhat obscuring your "vision". You take into account the pulsating noise of wings beating the air, as well as the soft hum of magic. You realize that this town must have a fairly even population, Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies alike. It startles you just how very different this environment is compared to Trottingham.
Kenny was right about the amount of females here. Judging by the distinct lack of male voices, you take a guess that the ratio of females to males has to be at least ten to one.
You hear your father humming as he pokes at some kind of crinkling paper. You guess that it might be a map of the town.
"Hmm... Town Hall must be around here somewhere. It shouldn't be hard to miss. Hey, boys, can you ask around for directions? I'm having trouble with this map." Your father never was very good with directions, but he was too stubborn to ask for help on his own. Kenny turns to you, and makes another laugh in false confidence.
"I suppose it's time for me to make thirty bits, huh? Hey, how about that girl skipping down the street?"
You turn, and listen. You try to sense who he was talking about, and you can distinctly make out the noises of hopping, and... singing? Indeed, there was a girl with a bubbly voice, full of joy and cheer, bouncing down the road towards you.
"Well, she's cute. I'm gonna give it a shot, wish me luck!" Your brother says. You smile, mischievously.
"Ha! You'll need it!" You call after him. You listen intently, and you follow him toward the singsong voice, listening from a distance.
As you both approach the source of the singing, Kenny tries to make himself ready, and you hear him adjusting his clothes and hair frantically. As you draw close to the voice, he clears his throat, presumably to get her attention. You hear the singing stop, and a questioning "Huh?" as you can only assume the source of the voice turns toward your brother. He begins to speak, and surprisingly enough, it begins smoothly.
"Excuse me miss, my name is Kenny, and I was wonderi-"
He is interrupted by a loud gasp from the girl, and a massive gust of wind as the girl suddenly the dashes off, making a noise as though she had just been launched from a cannon. Needless to say, Kenny now has a new record for how fast he can make a girl run away.
"...Called it." You say, smugly.
"B-but, I, s-she, I j-, b-b-b-.... What?" He stutters out, confounded at his failure.
Victory is mine. You think to yourself.
Arriving at your new home, you wander the rooms, clapping your hands together periodically, studying the layout of the walls around you. It's a moderately large house, two stories tall. Fairly easy to remember, though. The rooms are practically symmetrical.
As you prepare to help unpack, your mother gently grabs your hand.
"You've had a long day today, sweetie... How about you relax for the rest of the day?" You grimace, and reply in a manner close to complaining.
"But what about all the luggage and furniture?" She ruffles your hair, and gives you a gentle hug.
"Your father and I can finish unpacking for you. Just take a rest, it's going to be your first day in school tomorrow, so why not enjoy the day while you still can?"
You sigh. It was like this sometimes, with your mother. Whenever she thinks something may be too difficult, she will always deny your help, for fear that you might get hurt, or break something on accident. Just because you're blind doesn't mean you're incompetent. You say as much, in a hurt voice.
"Mom, just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't still help out around the house. You know I won't hurt myself or anything..."
"I know honey, it's not that. I just want you to rest for a while. Please?" You sigh again. She may just be looking out for you, but it wasn't necessary.
"Alright, fine." You comply, feeling a little bitter.
"Thank you." Your mother says gratefully. She kisses you on the cheek, and then turns and slowly begins unpacking.
You contemplate your options. It couldn't be too late in the afternoon, so you still have several hours to do whatever you like.
Eventually, you decide to wander the town, and get acquainted with the surroundings.
You walk to the front door, and open it. You're just about to leave, when your brother stops you.
"Hey, where are you going, man?"
"I'm gonna check around town. Study the place, just get used to it a bit, you know." Kenny shakes his head. He always was one for winging things, never really paying attention to what was actually happening around him.
"Meh, makes sense. Hey, tell me if you find any cute girls that might be single, alright?" You see a chance, and throw a quick insult at him.
"Do you really think there's anyone desperate enough to date you?"
"Oh, shut up." He laughs.
You laugh with him for a few moments, and then tell him you'll be back later.
You nonchalantly wave over your shoulder as you walk out the door. Closing it behind you, you deeply breathe in the relaxing, fresh air, and start walking towards town, walking stick in hand for support.
Advance Writing correcting and editing by Machiniman20.
Author's Note
Prepare to meet the girls that will change your life!
Comment, fave, and jab me with that damn green thumb!
View Online
Next Morning (AKA I have no idea where I'm going with this.)
What is this strange feeling of prodding on your arm? It's annoying as hell, and it's keeping you from sleeping.
What’s poking me… trying to sleep… You think to yourself.
Yes, I just said that for you. No need to repeat yourself.
"Hey, wake up." A voice comes from above you.
You move away from the annoyance, but it follows.
"Waaake uuuuup..."
The prodding continues, no matter how many times you move away from it. You continue to squirm away, until you fall face first onto the floor. It’s painful, but at least the poking stops.
Half a minute later, the prodding recommences. You groan inwardly, and you prepare to punch your assailant in the face.
"Wake up." The voice says again. You take a moment to think. Who is it? Oh. Kenny. Your brother stands above you, still prodding you steadily. Today is your first day at school, and you never were good at waking up early; Kenny must have been nice enough to get you up early, so you could get ready. How strange and different of him to do so.
You rise up from the floor, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. "…What time is it?" You mumble quietly.
"5:30. Now, are you gonna…" His words fade away. You froze upon hearing the answer, as a bubbling rage starts to build in your lower gut. 5:30. 5:30?!
"5:30?! You woke me up at 5:30 in the damn morning?! It’s not even daytime yet, by my standards…" You let out what could only be described as a growl, but your brother just stands there, apparently dumbfounded.
"Well... yeah." He replies calmly.
Your left eye would be twitching right now, but you don't have one. "What in Equestria would make you wake me up at THIS GODDESS FORSAKEN HOUR?! School doesn't start for four hours!" You breathe heavily, your rage dissipating.
"I got excited and couldn't sleep, and now I'm bored. Plus, I'm hungry, and I don't know how to cook." He says.
Ah, how characteristic of him. If he wasn't your brother, you would have shoved his head so far up his ass, the only way for him to take a crap was to open his mouth. Wait... does it work like that or... Nevermind. "Why don't you ask mom or dad?"
"Dad considers burning as a form of cooking. I won't wake mom up, because she might burn ME alive right there on the spot. So… you're the only other person I could think of that is awake, and knows how to make food. Can you make me something?"
"... Wait a minute, I wasn't even awake then. How was I the only OTHER person who was awake?"
"Well... you’re awake now, right?"
It has taken all of your willpower to NOT flip shit right now. But boy, do you want to.
"Ugh... alright, fine. But next time you wake me up early, I swear to Celestia that I won't be the only person blind in this family anymore."
You may be blind, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pour pre-made pancake batter onto a skillet, and serve the pancakes when they’re done.
"So... what the hell made you get up so early for… the first time in history?" You ask.
"Well, you know how this school mostly consists of girls?” Again, you groan inwardly. “I've been trying to find the perfect way to ask some girls out all night. Still having trouble, but I'll think of something eventually." You stare at him for a moment. He seems unnaturally energetic for someone who hasn’t slept.
".... I'm not even going to ask how you’re still wide awake, even though you stayed up the entire night." You shake your head.
"You know, I think I made a good impression on one of the girls. I may have a chance with that one pegasus girl." You facepalm.
"You mean that one girl that said 'fat chance', and proceeded to knee you in the balls when you didn't leave her alone?" You asked, remembering. It was hilarious, though slightly painful to witness.
"She said I had chance! It was a fat one!"
You suppressed the sudden urge to tell him to suck a fat one. It would have been humorous, but the current state of things, you’re pretty sure joking with him would just encourage him.
"Yeah... you keep thinking that, Casanova." You say in a deadpanned manner.
You both eat the rest of your breakfast in silence, and you use the moment to think about this town, about… Ponyville, and what you feel about it.
It's different than Trottingham... that much is obvious. The folks around here seem to be friendly enough, when they weren't staring at you like you had two heads, although you can't blame them. You already made two friends on the first day here; Applejack, who gave you some tasty apples for free, and Pinkie, who threw your family a surprise welcome party. While its purpose was to allow you to make some new friends, you weren't really socializing. You were just standing idly by the snack table, watching other people party instead. There were some who tried to socialize with you, an occasional greeting, or the standard question about your eyes. You would answer that you were blind, and it seemed to be a good enough response for them, as they didn't question any further than that.
During the party, you noticed how you were sometimes mentioned in conversations, although you couldn't really make out what they were talking about though. You just shrugged it off, thinking maybe since you were new in town, you would be the social topic for a little while, and it would probably die out in a couple of days.
Your favorite part of the party was watching your brother flirting with the many girls, and failing miserably at it. You knew he was bad with girls, but he seemed to be dead set on failure. He was on a streak, too, at thirty four girls scared off, when the thirty fifth one kneed his groin, which made him take a break, by lying down on the ground for several minutes.
Despite some strange tidbits, the town has a welcoming atmosphere. It feels like a nice town, filled with nice people.
As you finish your breakfast, you hear footsteps and yawning coming down from the stairs. It seems like your parents are awake.
As they make their way to the dining room, you can already tell that they were surprised to see both you and Kenny up early.
"Morning Mom, Dad." You say, giving a wave.
"Good morning you two... First time I've seen you both up so early." Your dad yawned, taking a seat.
"Trust me when I say that I was a bit surprised at that too." You say, flatly.
"Should I make something to eat?" Your mother asks you.
"Don't worry, Kenny and I already ate some pancakes for breakfast."
"You want something then, dear?" She asks your dad.
"No, I'll just raid the fridge for something. You get back to bed if you want honey."
Your mother nods and went back upstairs, while your father stands to open the refrigerator, and pulls out the bag of apples that you put in from yesterday.
"So, that was a heck of a party last night, wasn't it boys? I say, that was a nice way to welcome someone new." He says, holding an apple. You and your brother both nod in agreement.
Your father starts eating the apple, and watching his reaction being similar to yours was actually a bit funny. "…Wow. Wow! This is delicious! What kind of apples are these?"
"I got them from someone I met in town. Her name's Applejack, she said that she and her family owns an apple acre, and she was selling the apples. So I decided to get some, and since I was new, she gave some to me for free, as a gift." You answer.
"Mmm! Well, we're going to have to find a way to repay her for these. This is too good to just give away for free! It'll be an injustice if we don't!" Your father declares as he gives another bite.
Huh. So that's where I get that from. You thought.
"So dad, why are you up early too?" Kenny asks your father as he devours the apple.
"I need to find a new job in Town Hall. Bits don't just grow in trees you know."
"What kind of job are you looking for?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe something that will catch my eye, but if none do, I can always do some oddjobs around town if the pay is decent."
Done with breakfast, and with only a few hours to spare until school starts, you decided to distract yourself to pass the time. You liked doing random things to entertain yourself, like doing twirling tricks with your walking stick, or balancing some things on your head. Sometimes betting on how long you can balance how many items on your head with Kenny.
As the time finally arrives, you grab your backpack and strap it on. Saying farewell to your father, you and your brother leave for school, but just as you exit out the door, your father calls out your name.
"Yeah dad?"
"Good luck in school. I know for a fact that you'll be making some good friends here."
"Yeah... Thanks dad. I'll see you later."
As you make your way to school, you wonder what kind of things you're going to experience with what this new place, this new life. Hopefully, good things.
Super editing powers provided by Machiniman20
Author's Note
So, what will you find in this new school? How will you react to it? How much does your life change after this?
I would say you will find out soon, but I also actually have no fucking idea how to answer those questions either. I don't know where I'm going with this, but I hope it's somewhere that doesn't fuck up the entire story.
I suck at this update time thingy.
Comment! Jab me to death with that green thumb of yours! Smoke pot!
View Online
Love At First 'SIGHT' (HAHA OH GOD, PUN!) -The Unfinished Chapter-
As you and Kenny walk to your new school, you were discussing an interesting topic with Kenny.
And by 'discussing an interesting topic', it actuality he was ranting non-stop about something, while you were just nodding and agreeing without even paying attention.
"So I think I just realized that now actually."
"Ahuh."
"I mean, think about it! We have science here, and yet we also have magic!"
"Ahuh."
"It doesn't really seem noticable, at first, but when you think about it, it actually makes absolutely no sense whatsoever! I don't know how to explain it, but it just doesn't feel right..."
"Ahuh."
"I mean, sure, I guess it's suppose to make sense, since sometimes they're both considered the same subject. But there's just something wrong about science and magic when they're put together. You know what I- OOF!"
It took you a moment to come back to reality when you notice Kenny was rubbing his face and groaning from hitting his head on a door.
"You okay man?" You ask.
While still rubbing his forehead, he groans "You know, you could of warned me that I was going to walk into a door."
"Oh, hey Kenny. Be careful, you're about to walk into something." You warn.
"Yeah, thanks." He says deadpanned.
You noticed that the door he walked into was actually the glass door entrance to your school. You step back a bit to study the school in more detail, now that you have the chance. Although the building was too big for you to use your echolocation to get a good look at it whole, you could observe the front of the building just fine.
The building was 5 stories tall, with the equal amount of 7 or 8 on each floor. Judging by the wall patterns, you can tell it was a brick building. It was also nearby Town Hall, if your memory serves you right, and right next to a convenient coffee shop. You make a note to come earlier to visit the next time.
"Where... Where did this come from? I never noticed this being here before." Kenny says as he touches the door of the building.
"Wait, wait. What? You didn't notice this building being here? This 5 STORY building? And you didn't notice it?"
Kenny gives a slight pause before silently shaking his head.
You sigh in annoyance. "Whatever. Come on, lets get inside. I'll be damned if I was woken up at 5:30 in the morning, and still be late to school somehow."
As you walk toward the front doors, you slide your walking stick into your backpack and went inside, with your brother behind you.
As you set foot inside, you immediately felt that something was off.
As Kenny enters as well, he begins to look around. "So where do you think we should go? Should we go to the office or some-"
"Wait..." You interrupt, "Do you hear that?"
A few seconds pass by silently, until Kenny responds, "No, I don't think I hear anything..."
"Exactly... It's very quiet for some reason..." And you know how much the silence bothers you.
"Well, what's the problem?" Does he not notice?
"Well, what time is it now?"
Kenny takes out his phone and checks the time. "About... 9:32."
"And school started about 2 minutes ago, right? At 9:30?"
"Yeah, that's what dad said."
"Well if school is just started..." You lightly flick a nearby locker, and the metal noise travels around, sending you the image of an empty hallway. "Then why aren't there any other students around? Usually, the halls are crowded with students rushing to their lockers and everything to get ready for the start of a school day..."
"Oh, I see what you mean now. Hm... Well, maybe they're already in class?" Kenny guessed.
"Every single one of them? In under 2 minutes? Really Kenny?" You reply deadpanned.
"Well... You know, it's possible that they used some kinda... Time magic or something?"
"Time magic? How would magic even work like that?!"
"It's magic! I don't need to explain shit abou-"
"Excuse me gentlemen?" A third voice that seems to have appeared out of nowhere interrupts.
A surge of surprise and panic empowers you, as you turn your direction to the source of the other voice. You did your best not to show your surprise, although you didn't do a very good job at it. Maybe because of how you jumped into Kenny's arms and you both gave some less than manly screams.
The voice was revealed to have came from the boy in front of you. He seems to be a tad shorter than you, short enough to be mistaken as kid in middle school.
After realizing you had just been startled by this person, a new level of confusion hits you as to how in the world he managed to sneak up on you without even making a hint of a noise.
"Geez man! I think you made me piss my pants! Not cool!" Your brother nearly yells out.
A second later, you then realized that Kenny was still carrying you from the initial shock. "Uh, Kenny? Could you let me down now?" You ask.
He also seemed to realize this a moment later, and then unceremoniously drop you to the ground, a slight 'oof!' escapes out from you.
"Sorry. But might I ask, as to why you two are here on a 2 hour delay?" The unexpected tiny ninja man asks.
"Wait, what? 2 hour delay? What do you mean by that?" You ask as you get up.
"Well..." He starts off slowly, "A 2 hour delay means that there is a delay... for 2 hours... and a delay for school means that school will begin later than normal... and 2 hours mean-"
"I know what a 2 hour delay means! I mean't why is there a 2 hour delay? And why weren't we informed about this?"
"The letters should have been sent in the mail for all of the students who go to this school."
"Well, we actually moved in just yesterday. Maybe that's why we didn't get it?" Kenny points out.
"You two are the new students that just moved into town?
Author's Note
This story is up for grabs! Send me a PM if you want to continue the story.
Click here!
Thanks!
Prologue (A new start.)-1st Person Intro-
My eyes... they burn... Why does it hurt so much?
Just make it stop burning... It won't stop burning.
"Doctor, the acid has already destroyed his retinal artery. The only option left is to remove the eyes completely and drain any remaining acid, before it flows to the brain."
"Get him the sedatives. We need to go through this as quick and easy as possible."
What are they doing? Just make my eyes stop burning... Please, make it stop burning. It hurts so much...
I can hear a lot of screaming... Are those my screams? I just want the pain to go away.
Stop the burning... Stop the pain.
It’s confusing whenever I wake up from a normal dream, and frightening when it’s a nightmare. When I wake up, I still can't see anything. I can never tell if I've actually woken up, or if I'm still dreaming. Whenever I wake up, I don’t see any ceiling above me, I just see darkness. Like now, for example. Just one of the many cons of being blind.
How did I become blind, you may ask? Well, long story short, my eyes were almost completely disintegrated by acid, and they had to be surgically removed. It only happened 3 years ago.
I rose from my bed, and gave a small yawn. “Today’s the day…”
I walk over to my closet and replace my pajamas with proper clothes, before going into my bathroom and brushing my teeth.
I don’t really mind not having eyes, seeing as I can still do absolutely mundane tasks with no trouble at all. (Ha, pun intended.) Being blind may literally mean I can’t see anything, but I can see, in my own way.
Confused? Let me explain how it works.
After my eyes were removed, my ability to hear became incredibly advanced. I remember the doctors saying something about a human body can adapt rapidly.
So now, I see with my ears, sort of. Let me give you an example.
Imagine being in a room you have never been in before. The lights are off, so you can’t see anything inside. The first thing you would need to do would be to turn on the lights to see. I just clap my hands, and I can feel the waves of sound reverberating around in the room, hitting the various objects inside. Then, my brain subconsciously constructs what the room looks like, and I can "see" everything inside. I can walk around, not having to worry about hitting any tables, or chairs, or even stepping on things. That's how I see.
I find a lot of loose change just lying around now, because of that.
It took around three months of waiting to be released from the hospital to master this... echolocation. My family's faces, when they first saw me walking through the halls without running into anything? I can only imagine how startled they were... Literally.
After brushing my teeth, I reflexively looked up to the mirror to see my reflection, before recalling that it was a waste of my time.
Any mirrors or glass that I try to "see" are just blank walls in my head. Sound doesn't reflect my face like light would, sadly enough. This also means that I can't see through windows, watch TV, use computers, or even use most smartphones, since they have touch screens.
It sucks.
I hear several knocks on the door to my room, and then my mother's voice comes from the other side. "Breakfast!"
"Coming!" I quickly reply.
I grab my backpack from the corner of my room, and reach for my door, but I stop, remembering my blindfold. "Ah shit, almost forgot..." I mutter to myself.
As a person that has no eyes, I always wear a blindfold when going out. It doesn't really do anything for me, in consideration of the fact that I can't see anyway, but at least it hides away my empty eye sockets successfully. Trust me, it isn't a pretty sight.
As I finish tying my blindfold around my head, I hastily exit out of my room and make way downstairs into the kitchen. I can tell that my dad and my brother are already sitting at the table, while my mom still making breakfast. I can practically taste the bacon, as its enticing scent wafts its way into my nostrils. Aside from that, I can tell the slightly sulfuric scent of eggs anywhere.
As I sat in my seat, my dad greets me with a standard "good morning, son". My brother, Kenny, just slightly nods at my direction. It's really strange, reflecting upon my condition. I can feel the air move as Kenny moves his head forward slightly, hear a quiet pop as he accidentally cricks his neck looking up at me. It isn't visual, but at the same time, it is . It's like having a computer chip in my brain, and a hidden camera in the room is sending me details about everything. Cold, colorless, and disembodied, my senses may be stronger without my sight, but they certainly weren't any more pleasant. Color is a terrible thing to lose.
"So... son," My dad speaks up, gently, "Are you excited about today?" His voice holds some kind of fatherly apprehension I can't read. I can only guess that he's worried about me. It's understandable.
"Yeah, I guess." I reply, calmly.
My excitement for today was slightly dulled, mainly because of our reason for leaving. We're moving because of the school I'm transferring to. I'm transferring to a new school because of the bullies in what will soon be my former school. I like the idea of leaving it behind, in all honesty.
Before I was blinded by the aforementioned incident, my school life at Trottingham High was pretty quiet. I had some good friends, and I never had much trouble with other students. As luck would have it, returning back from three months at the hospital left people dubious of my condition. Not everyone believed that I was blind, though I didn't dare show them what lay under my blindfold. I feared that it would make me even more of an outcast than being a liar. Some believed me and moved on from it, and some were slightly suspicious about it, but went with it nevertheless. There were still the ignorant few who blatantly called me a liar, completely unknowing of the pain I had gone through.
There were the standard teenage accusations, like:
"You can see just fine, you're just lazy."
"That blindfold is see-through, isn't it? Drop the act."
and my personal favorite, "I call bull-crap. How many fingers am I holding up?"
Seriously, the last one? I laughed so hard at him that it damn near convinced him that I was blind. Anyway, it wasn't so bad for the first year, but it just got worse, because as more new students came in, less of them believed me, and every day became a debate of whether or not I show them the empty scars that used to be my eyes.
One day in particular, someone came up to me and said that it was unfair, how I get "special treatment" on certain assignments when I wasn't even blind. I didn't even get the chance to say anything, he just got really angry and tried to knock me down with a fairly well aimed left hook. Before he had even gotten his fist within two feet of my face, I felt it, I heard it, I knew where it would be, and I ducked to the left. His punch sailed off course, and he ended up hitting his best friend in the face. It was pretty funny, to tell the truth. Well, it was funny, until they BOTH got mad at me. Eventually a teacher saw what was going on, and she stepped in as I consistently backed away from the two to avoid any violence.
So, it turned out "enough was enough", and now I'm transferring to another school with a stricter policy on bullying.
"Breakfast is done! This morning, eggs and bacon!" My mother's cheerful voice breaks me away from my reverie. She had never been too heartbroken about me losing my eyesight. All she cared about was that I was happy, and as long as I was having a good day, so was she. We'd actually grown closer after the incident, believe it or not. I remember when I was walking the hall using my ears, and she had come from the other side. I stepped out of her way, and for a moment, she stared at me, and then broke into a chuckle.
"I'll never know how you do that, son." She said, happily.
The scent of bacon brings me back from my mind once more. Four dishes are levitated to the table in a magical glow, and before my mother could even take her seat, the rest of us already begun eating.
My mother is a unicorn, which, admittedly, is a rare sight in Trottingham, since most of the population here consists of earth ponies.
Kenny, Dad, and I are earth ponies, the standard group. It's pretty much a simple family, save for me being the blind guy.
After finishing breakfast, we all just wait in the living room. Hours pass on as my mother continues watching her favorite cooking channel, my dad keeps noisily turning the pages of his newspaper, and Kenny, being impatient, glaring out of the window. Well, I think he's glaring. I can feel the vibrations in the floor as he taps his foot impatiently, and the crackling of his knuckles as he stretches his hands. Meanwhile I'm just sitting in the corner, knowing that I can't read, or watch TV, or even look out of a window anymore. I'll never see another beautiful sunrise, I'll never be able to smile as I look over the snow in the winter, while the light sparkles off of it's surface, creating a beautiful shimmer. Ah well, at least I can remember the ones I've seen. Images in the mind don't require sight, and it's these memories that keep me happy.
I sigh, it's times like these that I feel lonely, knowing how separate I am from the world. Blindness was incredibly rare, except for accidents like mine, and children staring into the sun. Thankfully, my story isn't that embarrassing.
Eventually, the carriage arrives, and I had to stifle a chuckle for my brother's impatient demeanor. "Ugh, finally!"
We grab our suitcases and bags, and pack them into the carriage. We get in, and I hear the crunching of gravel under the wheels as it starts to move toward the train station.
My family is silent during the trip, and I find it slightly uncomfortable. Other than the rumbling of the carriage, which provided me with a wonderful amount of sound to construct an image off of, my family continues to make no noise other than the occasional sigh, or stretch. Noises that no one else would pick up on quite as sharply as I do.
We finally make it to the train station, and my family starts carrying the luggage ahead. I follow, cautiously.
At this point, I have my walking stick on my right hand. I don't usually carry around a stick, unless I'm outside. It's hard to see outside, because of the lack of walls. Sound can only go so far, and I never get a very good idea of where everything is before the sound fades away, never to return. Still, it isn't particularly challenging to travel outdoors, and the walking stick I carry can calm me down at times.
We're able to get in the trains just before they leave. Taking our seats, the train slowly starts to move, the wheels squeaking, and wheels turning on the steel track. It's a cacophony of noise, but it's strangely soothing. I look towards the window out of habit, and, as always, realize that it's a fruitless exercise. Then I opt to just go to sleep, instead. The churning noise of the train continues to soothe me, until I eventually begin to fall into a deep slumber.
For some odd reason, I can't help but feel like I'm going to be in for a very new experience. Then again, I guess that's what starting a new life is supposed to feel like.
As my vision fades, and sleep overtakes me, I think to myself.
Next stop, Ponyville. Advanced Writing Corrections by Machiniman20
Author's Note
I can't think straight. Too many ideas flowing through me...
Anyway, if this is good, I guess I can continue it.
First Day in Ponyville. (Re-Revised)
Note: I feel like I didn't put much attention into the reactions of other characters to the main character's eyes. I need to plan out this story better...
As you walk around the streets of the town, trying to study the structure of it, you can't help but feel self-conscious right now. Although you can't "see" it, you can still sense the many surrounding town residents staring at you. The way conversations abruptly ends, the not quite silent movement of heads turning, and that one guy in the middle of town who yelled out, "HEY LOOK! A BLIND GUY!"
Ok, maybe the last part didn't really happen, but it might as well should have, seeing as how it could of gotten the same results.
Just try to ignore them. They will get use to me eventually. You thought to yourself.
Ignoring the many stares of bystanders, you still continue forward, walking around town.
This place has the most strangest kinds of shops and stores you've ever seen. There was a building that was in a shape of a Carousal, a house that appears to look like it was made from candies and cookies, even a quite LITERAL tree house.
A TREE, THAT IS ALSO A HOUSE. Not a house ON a tree, but a TREE that is also A HOUSE. Judging by the bookshelves inside, you had to guess it was a library of some kind.
But the most weirdest place of all, a store named 'Quills and Sofas'. It is a store, that LITERALLY ONLY SELLS QUILLS AND SOFAS. Nothing else! How does that even work out?Are quills and sofas more popular here to the point of being a business specialization? One that was established FORTY years ago, and is STILL in business to this day?!
Ok, I am probably over thinking this. I should stop now before I probably blow a gasket or something.
You haven’t eaten lunch yet, a fact that your stomach is all too happy to remind you of. As it grumbles, it’s loud enough to give you a good sense of about three feet around you. In light of this, you decide to maybe get something to eat, now that you have an extra forty bits to spend now. As you look around for any shops or merchants that might be selling anything good, a heavy southern accent catches your attention.
"C'mon everybody, get yer' freshly grown apples, bucked by yours truly!"
Apples? Eh, it will have to do. You thought.
You approach the apple stall, and tapped on its table a couple times, both to get the vendors attention, and to get the sound to travel about and give you a good look around.
"Well howdy there, what can I do for ya?" She had an incredibly strong southern voice. From what you can tell, her hair seems to be in wrapped into a ponytail, and she's wearing a Stetson. Even now, you're still surprised how much detail you can derive from sound alone.
"How much for an apple?" You ask, pulling out your bag.
"Say, don't think I’ve ever seen you around these parts. Are you new here?" She asks.
"Yeah, I just moved in a couple hours ago." You reply
"Oh! So you're one of those new fellers that just moved in that old house in Bearded Street?"
"Yep, that's the one. How did you know?"
"The news 'round Ponyville travel faster than lickety-split. Pretty much the whole town knows about you right now." She answers. It sounds as though there’s a hint of pride in her tone.
"Wow... That's... pretty quick." You say, rather surprised.
"Yup! Say, I can't help but notice that blindfold you're wearin'. What's that for?" She asks, curiously.
"My blindfold? Oh, I pretty much wear them to cover away my eyes. I'm always usually wearing it." You say, casually.
"What's wrong with your eyes then?" She asks
Suddenly, images flash through your mind, memories of the incident. Doctors, hospital rooms; bland and impersonal. Pain shoots across where your eyes should be, and you grasp at your face for a moment.
"I… uh… had an accident a while back. Rather not talk about it…” You mumble, still rubbing over your blindfold.
"Oh... I understand. You alright? You seem to be, uh, rubbin’ your face." She says, quietly.
“Y-Yeah, sorry. Just… Bad memories.” You say, grinning to try and throw off the pain.
"Sorry 'bout that... Shoot, I forgot to introduce myself! Name's Applejack, hard worker and family member in Sweet Apple Acres. How about you pardner?"
You introduce yourself, "and I'm a... well just an average guy, I guess."
"Well, nice to meet you then sugarcube! If you haven't already, let me be the first to welcome you to Ponyville!" She says, happily, though you can tell there’s a tinge of regret in her voice. It’s nice to know that she feels sorry for bringing up your eyes, or lack thereof. It's kind of comforting, in a way, knowing that people here are empathetic.
"Thank you Applejack... So... about those apples, how much do they cost again?"
Well I don't usually do this, but since you're new around here, you can have a couple of em’, free of charge." She says. You feel like she’s trying to apologize for what she said.
"Free apples? Oh, you don't have to do that for me. I can happily pay for them."
"Oh shoot, now don't act like that. I insist!" She laughs as she grabs a bag and begins filling it with apples. She tosses the bag lightly over to you, and you get nearly thrown back, surprised by the weight. It had to weigh at least ten pounds… Jeez, she must be strong, she tossed it like a pinecone. After doing a little math in your head, you realize that she just gave away about fifty bits worth of apples! You speak up, quickly.
"Are you sure? That's a lot of apples to just give away for free." She laughs heartily again, before speaking up.
"Don't you worry none about it. Consider it a welcoming gift from Sweet Apple Acres!"
"Wow... thanks a lot Applejack." You say, genuinely surprised by the extent of her generosity.
"Don't mention it! What are friends for?"
"Well thanks again. I'll be leaving now."
"Hold on a sec, you said you were new ‘round town. You wouldn't happen to be the new transfer student at Ponyville High, would ya?"
"Yeah, I'm starting classes tomorrow, as a matter of fact. You a student?” She confirms your statement with a nod. "Well then, maybe we can see each other later again in school?"
"Alright, see ya then sugarcube!"
"Yeah, I'll see you later... Nice hat by the way." And with that, you take your leave.
The last thing you hear as you walk away was, "How… did he know I was wearing a hat?"
Right, should probably explain that later. What time is it anyway?
You've been walking around town for about a couple hours now. You already had a good map drawn in your head, so it might be a good idea to head home. Your family's probably done packing now, anyway.
You try to calm yourself by snacking on some of the apples that your new friend, Applejack, gave to you for free. You really need to find a way to repay her. You just hate to get special treatment without owing them back in return. It was just in your nature.
As you take a bite from one of the apples, GOOD GODDESS! THIS IS PRETTY DAMN GOOD! Applejack sure knows how to pick them, because this is delicious!
This settles it, you thought, I HAVE to find a way to repay her. It will be an injustice if I don't!
You finally arrived at your house. As you near the door, you wonder what time it is. Judging by the cool breeze, it might possibly be late evening. You probably spent the whole day wandering in town, though there were probably worse things to do.
As you approach the door, you felt something weird as you touch the doorknob. You felt small vibrations traveling through it. Probably from inside, but what is it?
You don't know why, but you just had a feeling that something was off. Cautiously, you put an ear on the door and try to listen inside. There were hushed whispering and silent giggles. You could only make out a few sentences. "He's here! Quick hide!"
Unfamiliar voices. Just what is going on in there? One way to find out.
You slowly opened the door, as it makes its creaking sounds throughout the living room. You could make out a few figures inside, hiding behind various pieces of furniture. You hear more giggling and hushing.
Not taking chances, you held your walking stick as if it was like a sword, prepared to beat the living crap out of these intruders if necessary.
You spoke out, "Who's there? I'm warning you, I got a stick and I'm not afraid to use it!" Eh, you've said worse things in life.
What happened next was... a bit hazy... Literally. As you hear a click that you can’t recognize, you review what just happened in your head.
Arrive at home.
Noticed people inside.
Go inside house to check things out.
Then yelling... Fuck-tons of yelling.
"SURPRISE!"
You winced from the sudden loudness. Everything was dark for a moment. Your ears are ringing, and you can't see anything. You don't know what's going on right now, you're blinded. You cover your ears in hopes that it might stop ringing.
Just as quickly as the noise started, it stops, and your hearing comes back again. You listen, trying to regain vision around you. You notice that you are sitting on the floor, panting, curled up into a ball. In front of you is a crowd of people, just standing there, staring at you. Your reaction must have been pretty bad.
You stand up, shakily taking a few deep breaths to calm down. "I'm okay..." You say, not sure if you were reassuring the other people, or yourself.
A very familiar bubbly voice yelled out, "Come on everyone! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"
Just as she finishes her sentence, music blares out into the room from seemingly everywhere. In an instant, everyone starts dancing and celebrating, as though nothing happened. You “look” around, still confused as to what’s going on around you.
You feel vibrations in the floor. Someone is bouncing towards you, fairly quickly. You can't tell, but that particular bouncing motion feels familiar.
When she reaches a space about two feet in front of you, she stops bouncing, and you are immediately assaulted with words coming out of her mouth at an incomprehensible rate.
"OhmygoshwereyousurprisedIbetyouweresurprisedsincebecausethiswasasurprisepartyforyouandwhenwewerelikesurprisedandyouwerelikeaahhanditwassogreattomeetanothernewpersoninPonyvilleandIknewyouwerenewbecauseInevermetyoubeforeandifInevermetyoubeforethatmeansyouwerenewbecauseIknoweverybodyinPonyvillesowhenIfirstsawyouandyourbrotherIwassosurprisedandnowwecanbefriends!"
Dear, sweet Celestia, WHAT? Did she even breathe during that? How could anyone have that kind of lung capacity? Was that even possible without suffocation?
YFortunately, before you completely lose yourself in thought, the bubbly character still standing there, as you assume she’s staring at you, expecting an answer, you hear the familiar voice of your brother calling out your name. "Hey man!"
"Kenny, what the heck is going on?"
"It's a surprise party! Bet you weren't expecting this, right?"
"A surprise party? What's it for?"
"Well, DUH, silly-head!" The girl said, still standing just a little too close for comfort, "This is a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!"
"A… welcoming party? That’s nice of you to do for us, but you didn't have to trouble yourself to do this for a couple of strangers." You immediately regret your apologetic nature, as the girl instantly starts shaking her head, her extremely soft hair hitting you in the face repeatedly.
"Yes I did! If you're a new person in town, then that usually means that you didn't have any friends here, and everybody needs a friend! So I wanted to throw this party, so that you can meet other people and go find some new friends!"
"Wow... thank you then, for the party, that is. We really appreciate it...” you signal over at Kenny, who seems to be staring awkwardly at the girl, “By the way, I don't think I ever got your name."
"My name is Pinkie Pie!"
You introduced yourself and Kenny, "It's a pleasure to meet you Pinkie."
You shake hands with Pinkie, and your brother, in his all too forward fashion, opts to give her a hug instead of a handshake, which she responds with a rather uncomfortable giggle.
Just then, you remember something rather important. "Hey Kenny, where are mom and dad at?"
Almost as if on cue, the music switched to something more festive. You know of the almighty shriek of your father, as it echoes around the room, suddenly silent from the explosive noise. "CONGA LINE!"
"Never mind..." You sigh, as you hear the noises of the party build up again.
"Well? Come on! It's a party, let's have some fun! CONGA LINE!" Pinkie zooms off and joins the slowly growing conga line.
You look at your brother, and he looks at you. You both shrug and head over to join the group.
Might as well just go with the flow.
You party on through the evening.
Some editing and revision by Machiniman20
Author's Note
Sorry for how long it took to update.
Also, I have no idea what I'm doing with this story. I'm just improvising everything.
Also, I really need to work on how other people might react to the main characters eyes. I think I just rushed through this whole chapter.
View Online
I can't write for crap. (Author's mutterings and whatnot.)
Author's Note
UUUUGGGHhh, I am a shitty writer. It's been a month already and I still haven't finish the next chapter for this damn story. Over a month, I only gotten down 984 words. How freaking productive, right? I can't even blame writers block, it's just because I'm plain lazy. In fact, it took me about 2 days just to write this SHORT author's note. Damn school, and homework, and tests, and damn me for procrastinating so much.
So yeah. This is my half-ass excuse, and apology for current events.
And now to even more procrastination. See ya whenever.