//------------------------------// // Chapter 4, Words of the Blind // Story: Pixels // by shysage //------------------------------// Spike and I, we somehow made it through that cold winter day, the many appointments it held... And between two appointments, I did notice the soothing tune flowing through my thoughts(1). And that evening, I had Spike send Princess Celestia the following brief message: "Seven spots, no pull..." Well, the next morning I tried to get everypony together; Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow and Fluttershy, well and Filia and Fiona (twins), and Shyna too... I told them what had happened, what was happening, and what Princess Celestia had said about my spots, my pixels... Of course, we spent the rest of that day crying together. But from that point, from that day on, it didn't seem to matter too much what each day held. No matter what I did, who I met, each day just seemed to crawl slowly by. Like the freezing cold, the snow on the ground, nothing seemed to stand out or make any difference. And when I was alone, I seemed to spend a lot of time crying. Well, this was really hard. Magic was... is my life... It just didn't seem to make much difference what else each day held. My whole life seemed to boil down to just sending that message... Everything else just seemed to fade into the background... And I tried to avoid using my magic at all, hoping that might help... I simply marked my days by writing that simple report so Spike could send it... I sort of lost track of time... ... "Seven spots, no pull..." ... "Seven spots, no pull..." ... "Eight spots, no pull..." ... "Eight spots, no pull..." ... "Eight spots, no pull..." ... The next day jolted me back to reality, I guess... I couldn't not use my magic... A large bully Unicorn stallion pulled his house on a wagon into town, stopping near the castle. A guard walked up to him and calmly asked him his business. This stallion laughed loudly. Just as a precaution, a few other guards quickly joined him. Even from the Library I heard him yell "You had better get the head pony in these parts right here, right now!" Just from that, I knew I needed too... Then he yelled loudly "Every Unicorn in this puny town had better get over here this instant!" Well, most everypony in town could hear that, too. I got up, started walking down the hall. The next thing I heard... "Push, you magical weaklings... Push or I will kill you..." When I walked out and down the steps, I saw two of the guards laying in the snow... probably dead, since it was freezing cold... "Get over here Princess and help, or I will knock your whole town over" he yelled the minute I walked down the steps. "Maybe I will get some real practice outta' this!" The rest of the guards were so scared... Well, I was too, but I joined them, using my levitation magic to push up against his magic... Short term, that seemed all he wanted. But he had already killed... "Get more Unicorns here princess... NOW!" he yelled. And, without even breaking a sweat, he used a different magic spell to collapse two of the closest houses... More of our precious ponies... All of my girls were behind me now, but... "Rarity, help us. The rest of you let everypony know to come here as quickly as poss--" "Yes! Perfect! You had better quickly round up the whole town! We need MORE UNICORNS" he shouted. Spike was next to me still. He was scared too. I just said quietly to him "Let Princess Celestia know" and Spike walked slowly off towards the Castle, crying. Thanks to my girls, the town quickly gathered, and many more Unicorns were using their levitation magic to push up against this bully's beam. Filia and Fiona probably could have taken care of this idiot Unicorn, but they were in Canterlot... And I was scared to push too hard myself because of those spots, my pixels. I exerted, but was careful. And I quickly realized that, me pushing a little harder, well this stallion just bumped up his magic a little more. I sighed. Me taking a break from this to use the Elements... That wouldn't work... And I found out later that Spike was scared to death for me, and didn't have a clue what to tell Princess Celestia, so he sent nothing to her... He just cried in his bed. This horrible Unicorn bully taunted us continuously, viciously... Some of his vulgar barbs... And if this sounds like a perfect storm... It was the middle of winter, now snowing harder and harder, and very windy. This winter storm was winding up... Honestly, I think we all... Time crawled along so slowly... Shivering from the cold... This bully's vicious taunting... Already two dead ponies laying nearby, maybe more in the two houses... Maybe Princess Celestia would come and... On a lark, I think, Applejack ran off to go get her new neighbor Hope, a cute, small Unicorn mare with very little magical ability, well at that point. Applejack was crying when she left, saying maybe every little bit might help... Hope had come to our little town last summer, and lived in the meadow out near Applejack, and they were becoming friends. And we had learned recently that Hope had dragged a blind Unicorn stallion out of the last blizzard... We were all concerned, them living together, but couldn't do much when it was hard to even be outside... I was glad Applejack galloped off though, because maybe she wouldn't die like the rest of us. I guess that was how I really felt... Hope did finally show up -- on that blind stallion's back, hugging his neck tightly. It looked terrible. And, to make matters worse, though blind, that stallion carrying Hope immediately confronted the large Unicorn bully stallion that was beating up the rest of the town. The Unicorn bully was outraged. This would not, could not help the rest of us at all. And it seemed that, what Hope and that blind stallion did afterwards... I thought they were just trying to find little ways to irritate him... Well it just made the bully Unicorn even angrier. I was pretty sure it would make everything worse for the rest of us... An angry magical bully.... I tried not to be angry at Hope, and the blind stallion she had dragged out of the snow... ...Without warning, the bully Unicorn's house on a wagon rose high overhead, then crashed down loudly on top of that bully Unicorn. The bully beam stopped immediately, but ours kept going briefly and rolled what was left of his house across the snow until it was just bits and pieces. And his own house falling on this bully Unicorn; that broke his Unicorn horn, and it fell off, disappearing into the snow... His magic was... gone... ...That blind Unicorn that Hope had dragged in out of the snow... His levitation magic was huge. And, though blind, he was magically sensitive enough that he could trace Hope using her feeble magic, as she lightly shook one of the wheels of that bully's house. That blind Unicorn... He picked that bully Unicorn's house up and dumped it on top of that monster. This part of Hope's story is recorded elsewhere(2). ...Hope's stallion had rescued the rest of the town, maybe more... ...But it was what Hope's stallion said afterwards to that bully Unicorn as that bully lay in the snow, groaning... I will never forget that blind Unicorn's words... "Arrogant Unicorn... Unicorn magic is not for yourself... It is for helping others..." Hope and her blind Unicorn Stallion turned and quickly, quietly left. And we worked right away to free the ponies stuck in the two houses that bully had collapsed. One of the foals didn't make it, but the rest were ok. And it was only later that evening that I could let Princess Celestia know what had happened. I had to wait until Spike had calmed down. Through his tears, he said he didn't think I would even come back this time. And explaining what had happened in town that day, and how Hope's Stallion had stopped it, well it took a few pages. Once Spike finally got that sent off, I lovingly tucked Spike in his bed, and put his blanket on, well over him. It was still freezing cold outside. I was beat. I walked into my room, to my bed and pretty much fell into it. Well, I took my crown off and set it on the table using my magic as I fell. Laying on my back, looking at the white ceiling, I didn't even bother counting spots. I just said quietly to myself, exactly what Hope's blind Stallion had said to that bully Unicorn... "Arrogant Unicorn... Unicorn magic is not for yourself... It is for helping others..." I really was very tired; magic use can easily tire you like physical exercise. I was soon asleep. And when I woke up the next morning, I made a decision. Whenever I noticed those spots, those pixels, I was say this again, quietly to myself. "Arrogant Unicorn... Unicorn magic is not for yourself... It is for helping others..." And I started saying this whenever I talked about my magic, or even thought about it. Oh, it may have sounded like I was mumbling to myself to someponies. I was! With these changes, I cautiously worked on getting back to normal, whatever that is. I didn't always remember, but when I did, I would have Spike send a brief report to Princess Celestia in the evening... ... "six pixels, no pull..." ... "four pixels, no pull..." ... "five pixels, no pull..." ... "three pixels, no pull..." ... "two pixels, no pull..." ... Well, I stopped doing that. And, I have resumed my own magical training; a Unicorn simply has to keep exercising his or her magic in order for it to grow, to not stagnate. Magic is a lot like a muscle. If you don't use it, it atrophies. ... It varies between one and two pixels now, and honestly, whenever I notice, or whenever I remember... "Arrogant Unicorn... Unicorn magic is not for yourself... It is for helping others..."