~Chapter 14: Typhlotic~
The flying chariot was falling out of the sky like a dropped stone. Spark could see the ground rushing towards him at a dizzying speed, but his magic wasn’t enough to stop the descent and every second that passed drew the three of them nearer to their deaths. The unicorn’s horn flared in vain again as he tried to slow the speed of their fall. There was nothing left that he could do. He had failed to protect Inferno, failed to protect Strata and, worst of all, he had failed to help Equestria. Spark’s eyes slowly shut as he accepted his fate and hurtled ever closer to his doom. He whispered an apology to his friends, family, Heart Charm and the ghost of his father.
Suddenly Nature Spark jolted upright, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. He panicked as he looked around, because the world was dark, but then he remembered the events of the previous day and collapsed back to the ground. It was just another crazy dream, a very realistic one, but a dream none the less. The unicorn still had a chance to fix things, although he was still blind. Tears began to form in his eyes and he squeezed them tightly shut, whimpering softly as he did. He was blind.
Spark wasn’t sure that he could keep going anymore. His chances were slim when he had his vision and all of his friends with him, but now it seemed pointless for him to even try. The stallion lay there for a while, silent tears running down his face as he lamented over his fate. Only now did the impact of what had happened to him really begin to set in. He was sightless. Never again would he watch the rising sun cast the sky in an array of reds, violets and yellows or see the beaming smiles of those he cared about. He’d be lucky if he could even use magic right anymore. It would be hard to levitate objects when he didn’t know their location. Spark was handicapped now and it was breaking him. Tears began to flow freely then, because he had no reason to care how the others saw him when he could not.
Strata and Inferno awoke to the sounds of a grown stallion crying like a foal. Spark had his face buried into a blanket, but his sobbing was still making quite a bit of noise. The unicorn continued in this manner, shedding tears over his undeserved fate, until he felt the touch of a scaled hand on his back.
“Spark, what’s going on?” Inferno questioned sleepily. “What’s wrong?” Like she really needed to ask, Spark thought. It should have been obvious what his problem was.
“I’m blind, Inferno,” Spark sniffled in reply. He turned his head to face where he thought the dragon was. “What the hay do you think is wrong?” He could feel snot running down his nose, so he attempted to sniff it back up. He wasn’t sure whether or not it worked, but he didn’t really care anyway.
“I know, but it is going to be okay. I’m sure that right now Star and the dean are coming up with some way to fix your sight when we get back,” Inferno assured him. She stroked his back trying to comfort the miserable stallion, but it wasn’t doing anything more than irritating him. “You will have your vision back before you know it. Just wait and see.” Wait and see; Spark lost it when she said that. He began to laugh, a wretched sound that mixed with his sobs, and then glared in her direction.
“Piss off, Inferno. Don’t you get it?” Spark shouted the question to the young dragon as he became lost in his rage. “I’m probably going to bucking die at the first sign of danger,” he moaned. The hand left his back and he sensed the dragon backing away from him. “I can barely use magic. What the hay do you think is going to happen the next time we get attacked?”
“I- I was just try-” Inferno sounded on the verge of tears, but he didn’t care in the slightest. He cut her off with another shout.
“You were just nothing. No matter what you say it isn’t bringing back my sight Inferno, so just drop it.” A second after he finished his sentence, Spark felt something connect with his jaw, making a sharp crack and sending him sprawling onto the ground in a daze. “What the b-”
“You had better quit this whiney bullshit,” Strata scolded him. It was the hippogriff that had hit him, Spark realized. “Have you been listening to yourself? Oh, I can’t see, boohoo.” Her words struck the unicorn like more blows to the face. “Yes, you are blind now. Guess what though. Crying about it like a little foal is not going to help anymore than yelling at Inferno. I’d suggest that you grow up and stop feeling sorry for yourself, because that is the kind of emotional crap that will get the three of us killed. There wasn’t much Spark could say to that, so he remained silent and rubbed his cheek morosely. None of them talked for quite a while, but the stallion could hear the sound of saddlebags being rummaged through and eventually he felt the warmth of a fire. The smell of cooking food soon drifted up to his nose as well, causing his stomach to groan in response. Feeling sorry for himself and whining had made the unicorn famished. Spark got to his hooves and carefully made his way closer to the fire. He stopped near Strata; at least, he thought he did. He reached out a hoof and felt around for the hippogriff.
“Strata, is that you?” Spark asked. He felt a scaled leg and realized that it was Inferno that he had sat beside. “Oh, Inferno,” he mumbled in surprise. He had acted stupidly earlier. It wasn’t the dragon’s fault that he was blind and he needed to apologize for his actions. “Look, I’m really sorry about yelling at you. It’s just going to take some time to get used to this. Can you ever forgive me?” He waited for a response, but she was silent for awhile and he began to think she wasn’t going to speak to him. Finally she spoke up though.
“Yes, I forgive you. I should have thought about how you felt,” Inferno replied quietly. She gave Spark a hug and he squeezed her back. “I can’t imagine what it must be like.” They broke the embrace and the stallion actually smiled a little.
“So, what’s for breakfast today?” Spark asked. He sniffed the air around him as he spoke. “It smells like potatoes and garlic.” His mouth watered just thinking about the delicious food.
“That’s right. I pan fried some potatoes in garlic for you two,” Inferno told him. “I got myself out a nice ruby to eat though.” The unicorn heard the sound of crunching as she bit the end off of the jewel and began to chew.
“Sounds good to me, how long until its ready?” Spark asked her. He had been depressed last night and as a result hadn’t really eaten much. He was paying for it now as his stomach growled in empty agony. “I’m starving.”
“It should only be a few more minutes,” Inferno assured her friend. The potatoes sizzled and Spark heard the scraping of something against the pan as the dragon stirred them around. Spark sat by the fire and thought while he waited. There wasn’t much else that he could do, after all. Before long, Inferno’s voice snapped him out of his mind and back to the real world.
“The food is ready,” the dragon cheerfully stated. She handed Spark a plate as she said it, the smell from the potatoes drifting up into the stallion’s face and making his mouth water profusely.
“Mmm, it smells so good,” Spark replied. “Thanks.” He began shoveling food into his mouth ravenously and soon after he asked for seconds. Strata had just finished with her first serving by the time the unicorn was done with his second plateful.
“Wow, you sure were hungry,” Strata observed. The hippogriff sounded a bit shocked at the way he had inhaled two plates of food so quickly.
“Yup, I guess blubbering like a little filly really takes it out of me,” Spark chuckled dryly. The girls laughed along with him.
“Alright, Inferno, we should get this camp cleaned up so that we can leave,” Strata said as she stood up. With that, the two girls set about putting everything back into the cart. Spark tried to help, but managed to only get his saddle bags in by the time that they had finished. Eventually, he thought, I’ll be able to use my magic properly again. He swore to himself that blindness wasn’t going to slow him down, but knew it was easier said than done.
It was a strange sensation being so high up when he couldn’t see anything. Spark knew that they were flying above the clouds, but it felt no different than flying a few feet off of the ground. Sure the wind blowing through his mane was colder, but other than that, he may as well have been hovering just above the earth. It was little thoughts like this one that filled the unicorn’s head as he sat in the back of the chariot and tried to pass the time. Without sight the flight felt to him like it was taking forever.
“For the love of Luna, it is so boring riding in this thing,” Inferno griped. She had gotten over most of her fears about flying by that point and the monotony of sitting for hours on end was beginning to take its toll on the dragon.
“I know what you mean,” Spark replied. Without being able to see the sun, the unicorn had no real indication of what time it was or how far they had gone. “Hey, Strata!” He had to shout so that she could hear him over the flapping of her wings and the rush of air past her ears. “How long until we stop for a break?” he asked.
“We’ll stop for lunch in about an hour or so!” Strata called back. Spark sighed when he heard her response. There wasn’t anything the stallion could do about it though, so he sat back and resumed waiting. It didn’t take him long to become restless once again however, and he soon found himself fidgeting around in his seat. He decided the only way to escape from the dreary situation would be to roll himself a joint and try to relax. It would take some very careful work to accomplish without sight though. This would be a good test of his resilience, he thought. Spark dug around in his bag, feeling around for the pouch of bud. He eventually grasped it and was disappointed to feel that it was almost empty.
“This is going to be a long trip,” he mumbled as he pulled the pouch out and set it down on his lap.
“What was that?” Inferno asked, having overheard the pony talking to himself.
Spark waved a hoof dismissively at her as he replied, “Nothing, I’m going to try to roll myself a joint.” He fished out a piece of rolling paper and carefully focused his magic onto it. “Can you keep an eye on me and make sure I don’t spill the last of this while I’m concentrating.”
“Okay,” Inferno said as Spark felt her clawed hand hovering under the paper, ready to catch the pouch if he should let it drop. Surprisingly, it was much easier to roll than the unicorn had expected. After all the years of using his magic, it seemed to work almost on its own and in seconds he had produced a fairly well made joint.
“Well, that wasn’t so hard,” Spark observed. Maybe being blind wouldn’t be as much of a hindrance as he had dreaded it would be. With a little practice, he might even be able to have some use in protecting the girls when the need arose.
“Wow. That was a pretty good job for being blind,” Inferno’s told him. He voice held a note of genuine surprise, so Spark knew that he had really done it satisfactorily and it wasn’t just his imagination, though he played it off like it was nothing, just for the fun of it.
“Yup, I’ve got some serious rolling skills,” Spark replied. “Not even being handicapped can change that.” His cocky grin made Inferno laugh and he could envision the dragon rolling her eyes as she chortled at him. The façade of nonchalance was ruined however, when Spark missed his horn twice while trying to light the joint with his magic. Inferno laughed even harder at that, until he finally got it lit and was starting to puff on the end of it.
The effect was fantastic. Spark could feel the edginess of sitting still for so long rolling off of him as his high set in. By the time he had smoked half of the joint, the unicorn was fully baked and giggling for no real reason. Not having to share his herbs with two pegasus made it last longer and was quite enjoyable.
“Why do you smoke so much of that stuff?” Inferno asked him, as he tried to catch his breath in between fits of laughter and coughing.
“Because it’s, well, it’s just great,” Spark replied. A smile crept across his face as he spoke. “It’s like everything that is stressing me out melts away whenever I’m high.”
“Sounds nice,” Inferno said. Spark detected a hint of longing in the dragon’s voice and knew what she was about to ask before she even started. “Do you think I could try some?” Yup, there it was, right on cue.
“Nope,” Spark replied. “Oh, no-ho-ho-ho. No way in Celestia’s good green Equestria am I going to let you smoke some of this.” That dragon must be out of her mind if she thought he was that irresponsible, Spark thought. “First of all, Star would have my horn for that and second, you’re still too young.” He heard her huff in annoyance and he gave her a consoling smile, or at least he tried.
“I’m not a child, Spark,” Inferno argued. “I’m twelve years old for crying out loud.” She sure pouted like a little foal when she wanted too though.
“Tell you what. If you ask me again in a year or two I might just let you have some of this, but until then you’ll just have to wait,” Spark told her. He took another drag and the tip of the joint burned his lip before dropping to the ground. “Son of a-” Not being able to see that he had smoked most of a joint already was going to really be a pain in the unicorn’s flank. His lip was sore as hay and he could picture a blister already forming. What Spark didn’t see however, was Inferno quietly reaching down and picking up the last of the rolled up herbs. He had thought that it was just smoked too far down, but there was still a little bit left.
Spark turned his head when he heard the young dragon start coughing. No, there is no way that she just did what he thought she did. The stallion sniffed the air around him and, even with the wind rushing past his face, he could detect the faintly skunk like scent of the herbs burning. He shot the dragon a glare that could have frozen water.
“I can’t believe you just did that, Inferno. I literally just got done telling you how much trouble I would get in if Star finds out,” Spark scolded. Inferno’s answer came between bouts of laughter.
“That’s if she finds out, ha ha ha,” she giggled. Spark felt the soft thud as she fell on the ground in another fit of laughter. It was hopeless to lecture her now. The unicorn supposed he might as well enjoy having somepony to be high with and wait for Star’s wrath to come down when they returned.
Spark and Inferno told funny stories and argued over pointless ideas until Strata finally landed to take a lunch break. Spark had to admit that the dragon was much more laid back and fun to socialize with when she had a little bit of the magical plant in her system. There was no way that he was going to leave his pouch of herbs anywhere near her reach from then on though. He tucked the woven pouch back into his saddlebags and closed the top of it, making sure to use the latch on the bag.
A chill wind blew in from the east as they prepared a quick meal to eat. Spark shivered and pulled his cloak tightly around him. The unicorn decided that, after they ate, he should try practicing the cloud walking spell he had learned. He didn’t doubt that it would be useful if they were going to where the hippogriffs lived. Spark assumed that it was some sort of settlement in the sky, but wasn’t positive. Once he could use it on himself well enough, he could try it out on Inferno as well. Thankfully, it didn’t require being able to see to effectively cast the spell, otherwise they would have been out of luck. Spark felt a tap on his shoulder just then and turned in the direction it had come from.
“Lunch is a sandwich and an apple,” Strata told him as she set the food in his outstretched hoof and took a seat beside him. “I wanted to apologize for my earlier actions. I shouldn’t have struck you like that.” Spark had honestly already gotten past that whole incident. He wasn’t the type of pony to hold minor grudges for long.
“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it,” the blind stallion replied as he shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly deserved it for being such a wimp.” He took a bite of the apple and it was delicious. The juices ran down the unicorn’s chin and he wiped them away before taking another large bite. Canterlot sure sold some good fruit, he thought.
“Still, it was an overreaction,” Strata told him. The hippogriff let out a sigh and was silent for a short while before she continued. “In our clan it is important for every one of us to be strong. If we are not, then we do not survive for long. So when I saw you breaking down like that, I responded the way any hippogriff would have, but that doesn’t make it right.” The unicorn was reminded that not every race had it as easy as ponies did, they were truly lucky to live under the care of the princesses.
“I see where you’re coming from,” Spark quietly replied. He finished the apple and started eating the sandwich. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to live in constant danger like that. I could only hope to cope with it as well as you have.”
Spark felt a scaly tale brush against his hide as Inferno took a seat on the other side of him. He heard the sounds of furious chewing as she ate what, he imagined, was her weight in food. It was a good thing Inferno was still a relatively small dragon, because if she was fully grown and got that hungry, Spark didn’t think that there would be any leftovers in all of Equestria when she was finished.
“She certainly is hungry this afternoon,” Strata stated. Her voice held a hint of suspicion and Spark knew there wasn’t much use in trying to keep secrets, so he decided it was best to come clean.
“Well, she sort of smoked some of my joint when I-” He had almost said when he wasn’t looking, but stopped when he realized his own stupidity. “When I dropped it in the chariot,” the unicorn finished. He prepared for the backlash from the hippogriff, but it never came. Strata started smiling at him instead, though he couldn’t tell.
“You are by far the worst dragon sitter that I have ever met. Star is going to be outraged when she finds out,” the hippogriff laughed.
“You mean if. If Star finds out, she will be furious, but that’s not going to happen if I can help it,” Spark replied. He sincerely hoped that Strata would keep her beak closed, but she seemed to have a certain strange code of honor that she stuck to, so he wasn’t sure of anything.
“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think that it’s such a big deal. It didn’t do anything except make me happy and hungry,” the dragon chimed in. After her input, Inferno resumed eating, the sound of crunching and chewing filling Spark’s ears once again. He finally had Strata put away their provisions, before the dragon could leave them without a bit of food left.
“Easy there,” Spark told her. “If you keep eating like that, then the rest of us are going to starve before we even reach, uh, where exactly are we going anyway?” He hadn’t thought to ask before hoof and figured that it might be a good thing to know.
“The hippogriff clan lives in a community above the clouds, called Sahclawi. It’s in the skies above the ocean.” That cloud walking spell seemed even more important to Spark, knowing where they would be. The last thing he wanted was to screw up the spell and plummet down to the open waters. Even if he somehow survived the fall, there was nowhere to swim to, so he would still die eventually.
“Good to know,” Spark muttered as he stood up and stretched out his legs. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go practice a spell.” He sauntered off a short ways, feigning a relaxed manner. Inside he was panicked though, because he wasn’t as confidant in his abilities as everypony else seemed to be.
Spark stood there in silence, trying his best to remember everything that Star had told him about casting the spell. Once he was ready, the unicorn took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He focused his mind and felt the magic emanating off of his horn. Soon it enveloped him in its power and he felt a strange sensation traveling from the tip of his horn down to the bottoms of his hooves. It was like his legs had gone to sleep and were just beginning to regain blood flow. The feeling was on the verge of being painful, but it soon subsided.
“I hope that worked,” Spark mumbled aloud. There was only one way to find out though. “Strata!” He turned his ear towards the camp to listen for her response.
“You don’t have to shout,” she replied a moment later. He jumped into the air and his heart skipped a beat in his chest. “I’m standing right here.” Spark had been so absorbed in his work that he had failed to notice the hippogriff walking up behind him.
“You can’t sneak up on a blind pony like that. You nearly gave me a bucking heart attack,” Spark lectured her. Panting breaths escaped his mouth as the adrenaline began to dissipate and his heart rate slowed back down to its normal tempo.
“I’m sorry about that,” Strata apologized. “I saw that you were performing magic on yourself and thought that I would come see how it was going.”
“It’s okay. I could actually use your help anyway,” Spark replied. He wiped a film of sweat from his forehead as he spoke. “If I did this spell correctly, then I should be able to walk on clouds now. I need you to fly me up to try it out and catch me if I fall through.” He couldn’t emphasize the last part enough. Just stepping onto a cloud while he was blind was going to be a test of his willpower. If he fell to the ground, the stallion didn’t know whether he would have it in him to attempt cloud walking a second time.
“Are you ready now?” she asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be I guess,” Spark told her. He felt Strata’s forelegs tighten around his waist and a moment later they were airborne. His pulse quickened as they rose higher and higher into the sky. Then, the moment of truth finally came.
“Alright there’s a cloud below you. I’m going to set you down now,” Strata explained. The hippogriff lowered the pony to the cloud and he tentatively touched the top of the plush surface with his hoof. It felt as solid as the ground to him, so he put a little more weight on it.
“I think that it worked,” Spark told her. “I want you to let go, but for the love of Celestia, be ready to catch me if I fall!”
“I’m ready,” the hippogriff assured him. She slowly released her grip and Spark’s full weight was pressed onto the cloud. His breath caught in his throat as he prepared to drop through, but that moment never came. The stallion stood there in his personal darkness, suspended high above the earth as he smiled.
“I did it, haha!” Spark cheered. He wanted to jump with joy, but it would have been detrimental to his health, so he settled for raising one hoof in victory.
“Good job, Spark. I knew that you would succeed,” Strata replied cheerily. He felt the cloud shift slightly as the hippogriff landed beside him. “Star would be proud.”
“I think you’re right, Strata,” Spark agreed. The novelty of sitting on top of a cloud didn’t last long for him however, and he soon craved the safety of dirt beneath his hooves. “So, you think that you could take me back down now?”
At first, the darkness that surrounded Spark was little more than an irritant as they continued on their way. It was as if his eyelids were sealed shut, but he knew that they were indeed open. The feeling was slightly uncomfortable, but one that the unicorn could deal with. As the day dragged on though, that feeling grew, until it became one of nagging agony that burrowed in the back of his mind like a termite in rotted wood. It became almost oppressive in the endless darkness and his mind was paying the price.
The fact that Inferno had been fast asleep by the time they landed back at the camp was not much of a help either. Strata had helped the stallion very carefully lift the dragon back into the chariot and there she still slept, snoring softly as she dreamt. Without Inferno to talk to, the conversation was contained mostly to the pony’s own mind and it soon grew tiresome for the stallion.
Conversation with Strata was difficult to maintain because of the fact that she could not hear his voice very well over the wind that blew past her. At first, Spark had tried shouting back and forth with her, but that became annoying and he soon gave up on it. The stallion sat back on the bench with a huff and tried his best to entertain himself.
Spark’s attempts to slay the boredom all fell short, due to the fact that he couldn’t see. He couldn’t read, even if they had thought to bring a book with them and writing the daily letter for the princess to give to Star was also out of the question without Inferno. Smoking was a mildly enticing idea, but Spark was low on herbs and didn’t want to run out too soon. He settled for sitting and thinking, about the only pastime that the unicorn could still partake in.
Spark’s thoughts drifted from their mission to his hometown and back again numerous times. He played out scenarios over and over in his head. He imagined coming home to Charm, her cute face reddening with a blush as he kissed her lips with a passion that can only come from being apart from the one you love for weeks on end. The pony imagined seeing his family and having a nice home cooked meal with them. Even Chestnut was in his thoughts. Spark sincerely hoped that one day the mule would be able to safely return to his home, so that they could visit like they used to. He wanted nothing more than for everything to return to normal, but it didn’t seem very likely anymore.
Sadly for Spark, there are only so many times that you can imagine a scenario before it becomes a twisted version of what it once was. The fantasy of Charm was plagued with thoughts of her finding a new stallion to be with because he had left her alone. His mother would have passed away and his brother would shun him in anger because of it. Chestnut too would be deceased, never to grace the unicorn with another story of the old days. These twisted thought mocked him incessantly.
Spark attempted to take deep breaths and let the feeling of fear pass, but it would not leave him alone. The cold wind in his mane felt like the fingers of death brushing past him on its way to kill everypony he loved. His cloak failed to give him the warmth that the sun was now unable to. Tears formed in his eyes and fell to the floor of the chariot around his shaking hooves and all the while, that ever present darkness surrounded him in its bleakness.
These thoughts passed through Spark’s consciousness repeatedly to the point of making him want to scream out in anger. He clutched his head between his hooves and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Maybe he could just squeeze them out of his mind or simply cut off his thought process all together. He was on the verge of a mental breakdown, but then he heard a familiar voice.
“I guess that I fell asleep for a while, huh?” A small yawn escaped Inferno’s mouth as she spoke up. “Wow, the sun has even started to set. I was really out of it, wasn’t I?” Well at least Spark knew roughly what time it was now. He planned on going to sleep as quickly as possible after they landed. Even if his dreams were terrible, they still wouldn’t drive him crazy, or so he hoped.
“…there is not much else to report. We have set up camp for our second night out and we will write you tomorrow with another update. Faithfully yours, Inferno.” She read the letter out loud as she wrote.
“Well now that that’s taken care of, let’s eat,” Spark said as he pulled out a bag of food and shoved some of it into his mouth. The taste of dried banana slices was sweet and his stomach growled in anticipation of being filled. Spark felt the heat of Inferno’s magical fire as she sent the letter off to its destination.
“That takes care of our correspondence with Star,” Inferno yawned. “Now, if you don’t mind, I am going to go to bed.” She turned and began to make her way for the blankets she had laid out in the vehicle.
“Wait, are you not hungry?” Strata questioned. Inferno must have shaken her head, because seconds later the hippogriff said, “Well, suit yourself.”
“She did eat quite a bit earlier. It doesn’t surprise me that she would still be full.” Spark continued to eat at he spoke, crumbs of bread falling out of his mouth as he did. “I mean, she ate more than I ever could have in one sitting.”
“I suppose your right,” Strata admitted.
“Mhmm,” Spark mumbled as he finished eating and then did his best to help the hippogriff pick up the mess. “Hey Strata?”
“What is it Spark?” she asked.
“I want you to keep an eye on me,” the stallion replied. He struggled to find the right way to explain his situation to her. “I, well, I’m afraid that I’m breaking down. I’m trying my best not to let the blindness get the best of me, but…” His voice trailed off.
“Believe me; it’s okay to be a little frightened in your situation,” she replied. “Sight is a precious gift that most take for granted.” Strata patted his shoulder and he gave her a smile.
They finished cleaning up and were soon taking Inferno’s lead and crawling into bed. Spark was the last to lie down, due to the fact the he was forced to feel out the place that he had chosen to sleep in. When his head hit the pillow though, it didn’t take the exhausted stallion long to fall into a deep sleep with a smile on his face. Dreams were, after all, the only place where his vision still existed in some form.