//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Magnificent Might of Midnight Sight Sorcerer Supreme // by Element of Malice //------------------------------// Fluttershy didn’t get much sleep, she had tried for hours, but Good Light’s predicament plagued her mind throughout the long hours of the night. She eventually gave up and decided to begin her morning routine a few hours early. Except this time, she started with a letter to her friend: Twilight, I’m writing to you at this time because I need to ask you a favor. Last night I helped a pony in the Everfree Forest find his way out. But unfortunately, he has lost his memories and does not know who he is or where he’s from. Another crucial thing to mention is that he is blind and looks as though he had suffered from severe physical abuse. I need you to send letters to the girls asking them for their help, as well as Princess Celestia. The actions used on the pony that Applejack and I nicknamed Good Light, for reasons I will explain later, are undoubtedly considered criminal acts and whoever is responsible needs to be brought to justice for what they did. When I go into town, I will meet you at the fountain, and once everypony is present, we’ll go to Sweet Apple Acres where he is currently staying. By the time she finished writing her letter, there was an overflowing pile of discarded rough drafts in the garbage can and scattered across the table and floor. She wanted to say as much as she could, but the words never came out the way she wanted them to and her lack of sleep only made thinking more difficult. She gave the letter to a grumpily awoken rabbit to deliver to Twilight as she tended to the rest of her animals. Twilight’s pacing had begun to leave a noticeable ring around the fountain, and the nervous expression on her face was so tense it was threating to be her new permanent look. “Twilight! You need to chill-lax. You’re giving me cramps just watching you.” Rainbow said worriedly. “I’m sure Fluttershy just went a little overboard with a description on a minor problem.” Said Spike trying to be as reassuring as he could. Twilight gave a look like she had been told ‘you misspelled your name.’ She then pulled out the letter that Angel had tied to a rock and thrown through her bedroom window, which was fixed with a simple repair spell. “Allow me to reiterate Fluttershy’s exact words. ‘The actions used on the pony that Applejack and I nicknamed Good Light, for reasons I will explain later, are undoubtedly considered criminal acts and whoever is responsible needs to be brought to justice.’ End Quote.” Twilight tucked the letter away then continued, “It’s not like her to be that harsh with… well anything, I just wish I knew more about what she meant by that.” “Why don’t we ask her?” Pinkie stated, “She’s right over there.” She pointed at the yellow pegasus that was trudging in their direction. Out of nowhere, the ringing of an alarm sounded as her mane started buzzing uncontrollably, “Oh! That my cake timer gotta go. Be right back.” The pink earth pony zipped off to Sugar Cube Corner “Oh dear, Fluttershy you look absolutely dreadful!” Rarity said, seeing the current state of her friend. “did you get enough sleep?” “Sorry, I can’t talk right now,” Fluttershy was interrupted by a yawn, “I need to meet my friends at the water fountain.” “Uh, first of all… we are your friends, and this is the fountain.” Rainbow corrected, “Second, judging by the bags under your eyes, the zombie-walk, and your brain's sluggish reaction time to realize that, I would have to say you pulled an all-nighter.” When the cyan pegasus saw her friends giving her a questioning look, she continued, “What? I’ve done it enough times to know what it looks and feels like.” “Hm? Oh, sorry Rainbow, uh yeah I didn’t sleep at all last night,” Fluttershy’s head drooped as she gave a sigh, “I just couldn’t sleep, not after what happened last night.” She ended with another yawn. Rarity pulled out a teapot and poured some into a cup, “Here, drink this, it’s helped me stay up when I’m working on big orders.” Fluttershy took the cup and downed it in one swallow. “Thank you, Rarity. Wow, I can already feel it working.” She said, holding out the cup for another drink. Twilight then spoke her concerns, “Fluttershy, can you tell me what’s going on? That letter you sent to me didn’t sound like you at all.” “Oh that? Sorry if I worried you, but that’s what kept me up.” Fluttershy explained, “After hours of it stewing in my head all night long I became more and more angry. Now just thinking about it makes me so peevishly distraught, I just can’t believe that such a monster could exist.” Twilight and Rarity was taken aback while Rainbow Dash whistled, “Dang girl, you didn’t hesitate to say those words! Whatever happened to that pony, must’ve been bad.” Fluttershy mulled over the words she spoke and squeaked covering her mouth. The sound of a wagon was heard as Pinkie Pie came around the corner with a massive triple-decker cake. “Sorry, I could have had this done sooner if it wasn’t such short notice.” Pinkie said, bouncing towards her friends. “No biggie though, I got it frosted just in time, hope he likes it. You girls ready to head out?” Fluttershy nervously nodded her head, and the group set off to Applejack’s. As the mares walked through the trees of Sweet Apple Acers, Fluttershy filled them in on the events of the night before. When she was nearing the end of her story, they saw Apple Bloom galloping down the road towards town. When the filly saw Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Spike, Twilight, and Pinkie, who was carrying a large cake in a wagon up ahead, she skidded to a halt causing Pinkie to jump in front of the cake hoofs in the air, “Careful illustrators! Your drawn sound effects almost ruined my Super-secret-special-occasion-get-well-soon-hope-you-get-you-memories-back-welcome-to-Ponyville cake.” A brief moment of silence followed. Apple Bloom had stopped moving forward, but she jogged in place, “Hey girls, hey Spike. You, comin’ over ta see Good Light?” “Yeah, we’re coming over to say hi to the stray Fluttershy found last night.” Rainbow snickered earning her a stare from Fluttershy. “Rainbow Dash! He is a pony, not an animal!” Fluttershy said, staring her friend down. “And he’s lost and scared and confused. That’s why we are going to help him find out who he is and where he came from!” “Okay geez, I admit that was a bad joke. But to be fair you do bring in a lot of stray animals,” Rainbow said in her defense, “I was just trying to… not… keep talking…” Fluttershy looked back at Apple Bloom who was still trotting in place, “You look like you’re in a hurry, how’s he doing, is everything okay?” “Well, he’s doing fine but…” Apple Bloom stopped moving her legs, “Last night, he had a nightmare. Real bad one too.” “Oh dear, what happened?” Fluttershy said in shock and concern, wondering what Luna was doing at the time. “It all happened so fast.” Apple Bloom said with the memories replaying in her mind. “Let’s see… First, he was screaming. By the time I got downstairs, he was winning a fight against the couch.” She said as she reenacted what she saw, “Which he then threw at Big Mac when he tried ta hold him still. After that, AJ went in ta try and calm him down. She did, but got pretty banged up in the process.” “Wait, how bad is it? Is that the reason you’re in a hurry!?” Fluttershy said now with great worry. “No no, she’s fine, that’s already been taken’ care of. Ah’m actually going ta see Starlight ta ask her somthin’.” Apple Bloom said reassuringly, “Ah think ah know what his cutie mark represents but ah need ta ask somepony their opinion and she’ll know where they are. If ah’m righ’ then that might narrow down where ta look ta find out where Good Light came from. Is she at the school Twilight?” Twilight rubbed her chin thoughtfully and said, “If I remember correctly, she is scheduled to work today at—” “Alright Thanks,” Apple Bloom interrupted then took off in a puff of dirt. “Wait, we still have… never mind, right now I’m more worried about Applejack.” Twilight said, everyone agreed and quickened their pace. “Applejack!” Twilight forcefully knocked on the farmhouse door without actually pounding, “Apple Bloom told us you got hurt, Are you okay?” The alicorn knocked again as the door was pulled open. The orange mare stood in the doorway greeted by gasps when her friends on the other side saw her bandages. “It ain’t as bad as it look’s,” She said not wanting to discuss the matter, “I was just caught off guard with how strong Fluttershy’s colt friend really was. In fact, ah think it’s safe ta take em off.” She then preceded to remove the bandages revealing the scabby sores of the flesh wounds she sustained hours earlier. Fluttershy blushed when she heard Applejack say that, “Um… speaking of Good Light—” “Yeah, about that… you’ll need to sit down for this one.” The farm mare ushered them into the kitchen upon which they saw towering stacks of pancakes, but what was more noticeable was the intoxicating aroma filling the room. Applejack had a pot simmering on the stove full of syrup, not just any syrup but buttery apple cider cinnamon syrup. Rainbow was the first to speak, “Uh, you weren’t expecting us were you?” “Good Light told me yall were headed this way, and he asked—” Applejack paused in thought, “Well actually, his stomach did all the talkin’, but anyway he asked me ta make breakfast and ah figured since you were comin’ over ah’d make a little extra.” She flipped a pancake and stirred the syrup pot and poured more mix onto another pan. “He’s still hungry?!” Fluttershy said with shock, “Well, not to say I’m surprised, but that is surprising considering how much he ate last night.” Applejack scoffed when she heard that, “You can say that again, Pinkie ah think you’ve met your match.” Pinkie smirked at that remark, “Challenge…” she slapped her hoof on the edge of a plate causing the pancake tower to go airborne only to disappear in one gulp “…Excepted,” the empty plate made a perfect landing next to the fresh batch on the stove. Once the six mares and dragon were seated at the table, and Angel had his bowl of carrots, Applejack told them everything that happened starting from when Fluttershy left. She told them about the nightmare Good Light had with the nothing lights, the conversation the two had on the roof, and that he was willing to work with them to find his past, despite having an issue trusting others. “So where is he now?” Twilight asked out of curiosity. “Okay, just so I know I heard you right,” Rainbow interrupted, “You said he jumped? A blind pony, jumped, off of the roof?” no matter how many times she repeated that in her mind, it sounded more epic each time she did. “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity exclaimed, “Is that honestly, the only thing you can think of, and nothing else?” “Why wouldn’t I?” Rainbow counteracted with a voice filled with excitement, “I can’t wait to meet somepony crazier than I am! Yeah, I admit it was a little dangerous for him to do that, but you said that he said he knew what he was doing right?” “Back to my question,” Twilight said over the tangent conversation, “where is he right now?” “When ah told him you were an alicorn, he realized that meant you were a princess,” Applejack explained, “he wanted ta make himself more presentable, so he’s washing himself off in the tub.” “Remind me again, was he the one with the stripy hat, red bowtie, and ventriloquist dummy or did he have the pet polka dot elephant that wore a magic beanie,” Pinkie interjected, “I’m still getting those two mixed up.” Everyone in the room stared at her like she grew a second head again. “Pinkie,” Applejack said, trying yet failing to hide her agitation, “I don’t know why, and I don’t care how.” She stood up, walked over, and looked down at her pink friend. “But if you say one more word about that, I will never sell you another drop of apple cider for as long as I live… ever!” It was at that moment, a door upstairs opened and closed, followed by hoof steps coming down the stairs. “I hope he doesn’t get all formal with me,” Twilight said unenthusiastically, expecting the opposite to happen. In which it did. Good Light walked into the room and bowed, showing his respects to the princess of friendship. “Your majesty. I, a lowly commoner, am humbled to have one such as yourself aid me in my time of need.” He was answered with dead silence. Despite the foreboding stillness, when he saw their light’s, he knew something was wrong. “Is something the matter? I didn’t offend you did I? If so please accept my deepest apologies.” What the group saw was appalling, they wanted to gasp or cry out in horror, but the stallion’s appearance left them speechless. Good Light had washed most of the dirt and grime out of his once chocolate brown fir and not-as-tangled blond mane. In doing so, the dark bruises, in all their glory, were now in full view and much more vibrant than before. There were also bald patches in his coat exposing scar tissue, freshly opened sores, as well as vertical cracking on one of his hoofs. “Spike…” Twilight said, struggling to not stumble over her next words, “Write another letter… dear Celestia.”