It’s been six days, since Scoots said she wanted me to compete. I didn’t hesitate to say yes and in only a few hours, that is exactly what I intend and am going to do. For six days the routine has been the same, wake up, take Scoots to school, fly to my training field, and work for near to the rest of the day. I had an appointment with Rarity a few days ago, and it went well considering she made me a hoodie to fit my large frame that I could wear with my wings poked through. She had told me I did a wonderful job holding still while she took measurements, not hard considering I was scared stiff. 3 Days ago I noticed I was coming down sick.
“Hey Dad are doin okay you don’t look so well,” Scoots asks, concern evident in her voice.
Well this isn’t cool.
“Fit as a feather hon, why?”
“Your face is really red, and your wings are twitching,” She explains.
“Don’t worry Scoots, I’m just fine,” Liar! “Shush some things are better left untold.”
I told Scoots 2 days ago, that if she rounded up all the fan club that could make it, and bring them to the training area, that I would take them all to see Dashie. I didn’t tell her it was part of my act, but she had been learning to help me with my act already, and I figured this would be icing on the cake. Even with the approaching challenge I have found myself sleep deprived, the first night sleep would not come, the next saw me working late on my performance, the third, sickness sees fit to try to upset my plans, the fourth, Scootaloo has night terrors which keep me up comforting her.
“No, no..noooo..stop...leave me alone...noooo!” Scoots wrestled in her sleep. Letting out a blood chilling screech moments later.
“Scoots!?” I yelped as I ran to her room. Mac, and Phae, the newly named phoenix, hot on my heels as I flew down the halls and into the bedroom.
“NOOOOOO!” She wailed still wrestling the nightmare.
“Scoots wake up everythings alright Daddy’s gotcha. Shhhhh It’s alright,” I continued trying to soothe her into a full sleep.
After nearly an hour she calmed down, and a knock was heard at the door. I scribbled a note and told Lil’ Mac to put it through the mail slot and come right back.
A few moments later Twilight comes walking in and immediately jumps to conclusions.
“What have you done!” She screams. Nearly waking the finally resting filly held in my gryphon arms. I take a minute to catch my breath, before speaking and causing more shouts.
“I haven’t done anything Miss Twilight, she was having a night terror, and I was being a good parent and comforting her,” I tried to explain.
“Oh, I’m sorry I just heard the screams all the way over at the library, and instinctively came running,” She says with a sheepish grin and a quiet voice.
“Thank you for being concerned, Miss Twilight, but I got it covered,”
“Are you sure?” She asks.
“Yes, Miss Twilight, and if anypony else comes by on your way back will you deter them for me please?” I ask not wanting someone to wake her up so she could sleep soundly.
“Sure,” She says walking back out the door.
The fifth day, the Apples needed help with their harvest and I was volunteered by the Crusaders, not that I would have declined anyway. Though I later learned how sneaky my little filly was, finding that she had devised the whole thing as a different way of training for the big day.
“Well howdy there stranger, what can I do for you?” Applejack greets me as I walk up the drive.
“Morning Miss Apple, I’m here to help!” I answered. For a split second her expression turned to shock, only to snap to a stern glare.
“And just where did ya hear I needed help?!” She hollers, causing Big Mac, to walk out the door, and make his way towards, Me!
“Scootaloo told me, that Applebloom told her, that she overheard you and her brother, talking about the apple harvest, and how you were behind schedule. So Scoots begged me to come over and help. So here I am,” I replied knowing that Applejack would know right away if I was lying or not.
“Well I guess ya can help me out, with the applebuckin,” She finally tells me with a smile, a gentle warm smile.
“Then let’s get to it!” yell with vigor as I hop the fence and follow the mare to where she starts buckin the trees, at a solid steady pace. I watch in awe as she moves, with practiced precision.
“I thought ya’ll was here ta help?!” She calls out from about eight trees down.
“Sorry, just got a bit distracted,” I yell back with a sheepish expression. She shakes her head and goes back to work. I look at the trees and instantly have a plan of attack ready, I walk down the row of trees and begin punching them alternating hands between trees as I go. working at such a pace, I quickly catch up to Applejack, and shortly after pass her. I reach the end of the row and wait for the farm mare to arrive, when she reaches the rest spot I pass her a glass full of Ice water, watching as she drinks greedily.
“Thanks for the water Sparrow Feather,” She puffs out between breaths.
“Ah. So you do remember my name,” I say in surprise. I didn’t know I had actually said it but who cares.
“Yup, I remember. But now I am just dying to know why you didn’t knock any apples off the trees?” She asks pointing at my still unharvested row.
“Heh, Watch,” I answered. I sat down my drink and walked till I was about a foot from the end of the row, squared myself up with the tee, arched back in a haymaker pose with fists braided, then sharply brought them down on the ground with as much force as I could muster. A couple seconds later and all the apples had fallen into baskets.
“Land Sakes Alive!” AJ hollered.
“If you come here I’ll teach you?” I asked offering her another way to harvest them quicker.
She gulped down her water, and eagerly trotted over to where I stood. I had her to sit on her haunches and relax while I finished my water.
“Okay now close your eyes, good. Now...open them,” I instructed, having placed my talons over her eyes, using a technique called transvision, allowing one person to see that of another through that ones own eyes.
“Wow is the color always this bold?” She asks impressed.
“Not even close, it’s just the boost from the transvision,” I replied. It was a lie, a smooth lie to protect who I was, it was just my normal vision as it was more vibrant from all the experiments.
“Now can you see the trees, and how they have certain spots on their trunks,” I asked. When two people are in transvision, the one who has their eyes covered takes over the sight of the one covering them. In a sense the person loses their ability to see , and move their head, but they can still hear and talk.
“Yup, it almost looks like the trees have pony pox,”
“Heh, yes and there is one area left untouched yes?”
“Yep. Right about waist high.”
“That is where you want to hit the tree. But remember when you hit the tree don’t give it the signature buck you always use just a good, solid, punch,” I instructed. A moment later while AJ was memorizing the area of impact on the trees, a massive pain erupted in the side of my head as I was set flying.
“Leave my sister alone, you beast!” The now obvious voice of Big Mac roared. I soon slammed into a tree and struggled to catch my breath, but when I looked up I saw AJ lying motionless while Big Mac stalked towards me. I sprung to action flying over the rampaging stallion, and sprinting towards the unconscious mare.
“AppleJack, are you there, speak to me!” I rambled while shaking her. She didn’t respond to my voice but she was breathing so I scooped her up and hovered in the air.
“Big Mac, meet us behind the schoolhouse at my house. If you see Scoots have her take you there!” I hollered down before spinning around and taking off. In my haste I barely noticed the cone forming around me as I rushed to my house.
I landed gently and rushed through the door, making a table appear out of nowhere and gently laying her on it, placing a couch pillow under her head. Soon after I put a oxygen mask on her face, she began to stir.
“Mmm. What happened, where am I?” AJ asked slowly coming back to reality. “And why is it so dark?” She asks causing my heart to stop.
No! Not now! Oh God why this?
Now knowing what needed to be done, I decided to answer her so she wouldn’t panic.
“Don’t worry AppleJack, your eyes simply haven’t adjusted from the transvision,” I lied. A big lie too, when I had been thrown my talons ripped through her face, slicing deep into her eyes, and nose.
The small amount of energy left by the sudden separation must be keeping her blood from pouring.
“Sparrow? Is that you?”
“It’s me AppleJack,”
“What happened?” She asks in an almost pleading voice, causing me to hesitate.
“Sparrow?”
I took a deep breath and sighed. “Out of a brotherly love for his sister, Big Mac drove his hoof into my face, cutting the connection and causing you to black out,”
“Then why haven’t my eyes straightened out yet?” She asks the killer question.
I walked over to the table, bracing for the next hurdle and placed my hand over her eyes, allowing the world to go dark. “I thought they had,” I told her, knowing that they had only just done so.
It is very hard to explain events in great detail without having a view of those events, therefore the following events have been told to me by friends and family alike. The following memories were also saved in a video format via myself and Twilight, so that I could experience them myself.
AJ’s Point Of View.
“Oh Sparrow!” I said with a gasp.
“What?” He asks as if he doesn’t know what’s going on.
“You look like crud,”
“Well AJ honey, not to be rude, but you probably don’t look your best either right now,” He says with a big smile, holding up a mirror for me to see myself.
“I look like ah always do,” I snip back.
“OH!” He yelps. His face turned as bright as a red delicious, and his wings extended to their fullest.
I was glad he couldn't see my face as it was nearly red as he was.
“Sometimes being white and having wings make for a lot of embarrassing moments,” He explains as his wings fold back down to his sides.
“Yeah well shouldn’t we do something about your face, I mean no offense but you’re hurtin pretty bad from the looks of it?”
“We can bandage it, but then you have to go finish that orchard so you make quota, and don’t give me any lip about it. I am going to be fine and Phae, and Lil’ Mac should be here soon, so I’ll have plenty of help,” He ordered not giving me an inch.
“Little Mac Eh, who’s that?” I ask in curiosity.
“He’s a timberwolf,” He answered bluntly.
“And Phae?”
“A phoenix,”
“Well that does it, your bandages are all set, and I can go back and finish the orchard,” I told him as I put the scraps in the trash and rinsed my hooves in the kitchen sink.
“If you see your brother head him off and send Scoots on home, please,” He asks slipping on a hoodie and climbing up on his couch.
“Sparrow?” I ask in a quiet voice.
“Yes AppleJack,”
“How long will you be...”
“I don’t know AppleJack,” He said knowing what I would ask. I turned and walked out the door, gently sliding shut behind me.
“And where is that filthy gryphon?” Big Mac’s thunderous voice sounded behind me. I turned around in time to see Scootaloo shoot past me into the house, then look up to answer Big Mac.
“He’s inside curled up on his couch half dead, thanks to you!” I screamed sure that the door was soundproof.
“What are you talking about!” He yelled back.
“What I mean, is that when you put your hoof in his head you nearly killed me, and he fixed your mistake. When he was sent flying, his claws almost cut clean through my eyes and really did a number on my face. Now I don’t know how, and I don’t care but he took what you made him do to me and now he is laying on that couch blind, and he’s not even sure he’ll see again,”
Big Mac just sat there speechless soaking up what I had just told him. I would have stayed longer to see his reaction but I had apples to harvest.
I hope Sparrow is allowed to see again, that kid needs his sight.
Jordan Point Of View.
At the end of today I find myself facing a greater challenge than the day before. I have been blinded, beaten and bruised, but the show must go on, as they say.
“Lord give me strength to meet the challenging days ahead. In tua sanctum nomen, Amen”
I repeat to myself, unsure if I would still be heard or not. The next day I kept Scoots home from school, after dropping a note by the school explaining to miss Cheerilee why I had kept Scoots home, we went to find Rainbow Dash to see if she could help us prepare the stadium for our act.
“Come on honey, we gotta get going if we’re ever gonna get dash to help us prepare the stadium!” I called out.
“Coming Daddy!” I hear her reply followed by the sound of hooves pattering across the floor. I felt her hop on my back and strap herself into the harness I came up with during my sleepless night. The harness was sort of like being strapped into a square with hoof slots allowing Scoots to direct my wings, twist left hoof forward, I climb, backward I dive. Right hoof controls the direction in the same manner, allowing scootaloo to guide me with precision allowing me to still do my stunt, and with a final click she was latched in.
“Ready!” She yelled, and off we went using the harness as a steering mechanism. The flight around town wasn’t too long before we found Dash, lounging on a cloud.
“Hey Dashie!” Scoots yelled, rousing the mare from her nap.
“Go away Scoots,....Scoots!” She took a double take, knowing Scoots couldn’t fly.
“What are you doing up here?”
“We need your help to set up the stadium for our act tomorrow,” Scoots immediately blurted out our mission.
“Well since you came all the way up here, and you clearly need my help, I guess I’m game,”
“Awesome!” Scoots shrieked. We made our way to the stadium easily keeping pace with Dash, and began setting the stadium up. The change we made to the stadium, was that we made rafters across the bottom of the stadium so that something immensely heavy could sit on them.
“Well, all done, anything else I could do?” Dash asked surprising me.
“Sure, could you make sure that I go before you tomorrow, I want Scoots to be able to see your act and I can’t do that if you go first,”
“Sure thing, see ya tomorrow!” She called blasting off. Scoots used her money to take us out to eat, as she had been getting a steady stream of bits from the investment I had made for her. We went to a place called the Gilded Gryphon, and laughed as I struggled to eat the hay fries she had ordered me. They tasted pretty much the same as potatoes only less filling and more greasy. After that we went home and Scoots passed out on the couch, curling up next to me as I failed to sleep again. my lack of sleep was at the very least enjoyed by the thought of my little filly curled up on the couch with her old man.
______________________________________________________________________________
ME: Well that was a twist.
Sparrow: You mean to tell me, that now I have to do the tryouts, BLIND!
ME: Exactly.
Sparrow: I’m gonna throttle you so hard.
ME:Only if you find me before you trip.
Sparrow: Grrrrrr....Hey Scoots let’s get him.
ME: Ahh! GRANDMA!
Gma: Kids, bed, now!
ME & Sparrow: YES MAM!
(A/N. This is only a bridging chapter and the big day will be next but it will take longer as I have started school now. If you are reading this I want to thank you for reading this, it makes my day to know people read my work.)