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// To the start 
// Story: Beyond Blind Eyes 
// by Lunaric 
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Cotton looked up at the sign reading Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I hope this goes well. Looking to her back, she saw Aqua trying to concentrate on levitating her training balls while on Cotton's back. It was going well. She's only dropped them once and, heh, hit Solid once.  In front of her, Solid took the lead and pushed open the front door.

"Come along, ma'am."

"Right, right..." I'm not the one applying to the most prestigious magic school ever. Why am I even this nervous? I don't even need to take any tests! Princess Celestia's School mostly had young fillies and colts join and stay for most of their academic career. She'd heard of those that got lucky enough to join later on in life, but those were closer to horror stories than miracles. Cotton looked to the filly on her back. She had stopped training and put the balls away into her saddlebags. Her ears turned this way and that listening for sounds that Cotton was certain only Aqua could hear. While it's tragic that she's crippled at this age, I'm a little glad she's still so young while joining. Walking in, she stood to the side of the door, awkwardly looking around. Thankfully for her, Solid noticed and took the lead. Solid trotted up to the elderly stallion at the front desk. 

"Hello, sir. Here with an applying student, Aqua, for the appointment with the vice principal." The stallion looked up over his glasses. 

"Ah... yes... Aqua..." Flipping through papers on the desk, his eyebrows raised. "The blind filly, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Mhm." The stallion pulled out a page and wrote a few things on it before handing it to Solid. "Here you go. Her door is just down the hall; the twelfth door on your left. It should have a star on the front of the door." He pointed down the hall on Cotton's left before going back to writing.

"Thank you, sir." Solid, once more, took the lead and trotted in said direction. Cotton quickly matched his pace. She looked around, soaking in the visuals. Posters of famous magicians, paintings of tomes, cabinets of trophies, and a repeating picture of a florescent star that varied in colour. It was surprising that such a simple symbol kept being reused. While the hallway was long, They were close to the end when there was a sudden shift from Aqua on her back. 

Turning around, Cotton noticed that Aqua was staring at a painting on their right. It was a painting of a sleeping white filly. Coat, mane, and tail. All white. She was staring ahead with a measured look on her face. Wait, staring? Cotton heard two balls smack into the floor behind her. Looking back, Cotton saw Aqua with her eyes closed and mouth open. Even still, she was facing the painting. She was even tracking it as they moved. Suddenly, Aqua twitched and started rubbing her eyes with her hooves.  

"A-aqua... are you... Are you okay?" Eyes flaring with concern, Cotton hugged the filly on her back with her wings. 

"Y-yeah... I... I-I just got something in my eye." Aqua rubbed her eyes a little more before opening them and smiling at Cotton. She was struggling to keep her eyes open, however. Aqua's eyes sparkled when Cotton could see them. Her eyes were wet after all.

Not relieved, Cotton replied, "Okay..." Inspecting the painting, Cotton noticed the filly's cutie mark was the star that littered the hall. Aside from the notable star, she found nothing but a painting. Shaking her head, she turned to the training balls on the floor. Picking them up with her wings and putting them into Aqua's lap, she continued forward. In front of her, Solid had paused for them. Upon their return to reality, he continued... for four hooves. They were there.

Solid knocked on the door with no response. Knocking again resulted in a muffled voice through the door, "Oh, sorry! Come in, come in!" 

Solid opened the door and stood to the side. Cotton looked back at the painting one last time. Walking forward into the principal's office, one thought came to mind, The background was always starry, right?