//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Blindly Falling in Love // by AtomicAlton //------------------------------// “Mom! I’m taking Wrex out for a walk!” I yell to my mother from downstairs. “Alright dearie! Just be careful! And don’t forget to use that spell if you need it!” “I know, I know. Bye!” I answer back. ‘Sheesh! I may be blind, but I’m not helpless you know.’ I think to myself as I leave the house to begin that task of walking my monster of a dog. I honestly have no idea what he looks like but I know one thing about him. He’s BIG. Or at least big enough to pull me. ‘I mean, it’s not like I was born blind after all.’ I start thinking back to that crazy night all those years ago. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I was only five or six years old and I had decided that I would spend an entire hour in the Everfree Forest. Okay that’s a lie. I was actually dared into it by my “best friend” Comet Flash. “Dude, come one! You love scary stuff so why won’t you do it?!” Comet had been pestering me about it and never once let up. Not even in class! “I already told you no! We have that HUGE test tomorrow and I want to go to bed early tonight. And we both know OUR grades don’t need to get any worse.” Comet looked away sheepishly knowing I was right. We had been slacking off in the studying department, and after a couple of weeks, it had shown. “Yeah I guess you’re right, Tiny Terror.” My ears perked as soon as I heard the nickname. “What did you just call me?” I asked as I turned to glare right at him. “You heard me. Tiny Terror!” He knew I hated that nickname and that’s why he’d use it to get undivided attention. “I guess I can just tell everypony at school tomorrow that Tiny Terror is just a chicken that’s too scared to go into some woods. Unless you can prove me wrong?” Well I now realize that giving into the pressure was a gigantic mistake, but back then I would do just about anything to get that smug look off of that jerk’s face. “Fine, I’ll do it! When and where?” I had given in. “Ten-thirty tonight at the usual place by the CMC’s clubhouse. See you there, Tiny.” He said as he took off flying towards his house. I’m pretty sure I could feel steam shooting out of my ears as I walked home. Comet was a nice guy most of the time, but he really knows how to get under your skin. When I got home, I told my parents about the test tomorrow and said I was going to bed earlier than usual. Once I got into bed, I waited for ten-thirty to roll around and proceeded to sneak out of the house. I walked for a few a minutes till I reached my destination. And, as usual when something like this happened, he was leaning against a tree, looking in my general direction with that same look on his face I hated so much. “You know it’s rude to let your date wait for so long.” He said in his constant joking tone. “What took you so long?” “Well some of us aren’t able to fly like you.” I pointed out. “Well, whatever. You ready to do this or are ya gonna chicken out?” “Oh believe me, I’m in!” I exclaimed with anger. “Good. All you have to do is go into the woods, walk around for an hour, and come back here in one piece. Good luck!” I had pushed the thought of getting eaten out of my mind. I knew he was just trying to get me on edge, and I also knew it wouldn’t work! After about fifteen minutes of wandering around like an idiot, I had reached the edge of a foggy lake. That’s when I heard the most blood curdling sound I ever heard in my life coming from somewhere to my left. “Who’s there?!” I questioned to the darkness, once again, like an idiot. “I’m warning you! I’m a unicorn, and I know a lot of really strong spells! So you better back off; you hear me!” I exclaimed loudly to the dark nothingness. That’s when I saw a huge pair of glowing golden eyes appear from behind some trees. That’s when everything went dark. “Huh? Why can’t I see?” I say as I start to panic. That’s when I felt the ground start to shake which made me panic even more. “Somepony, please help me!” I screamed as loud as I could in hope of somepony coming to my rescue. The last thing I heard was the sound of splashing water as I slipped and hit my head on a rock, knocking me out cold. When I came to, I heard the sound of crying. But when I opened my eyes to see who it was, the darkness had stayed as if my eyes were still closed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My mother had explained to me that whatever I saw in the forest had somehow caused me to go blind. I asked them what that meant and they told me I wouldn’t be able to see anymore. For the first year or so, I had been pretty depressed. It had also taken a few months to actually get used to being blind. But on the plus side, I had gotten a puppy to be my seeing-eye dog! Comet still blames himself even though I tell him to stop. And without realizing it, Wrex had started dragging me off somewhere unknown. “Calm down, Wrex! Geez what’s gotten into you boy?” I say as we finally stop. I decided to use my seeing spell to find out where I am. The spell allows me to see shapes using the magic in the air, but for details it’s completely useless, and it doesn’t last very long either. I looked around only to realize that my dog had dragged me to the same spot where Comet and I used to enter the forest during the day. “Did you want to show me something, boy?” I asked Wrex as I turned back to the forest, then back to him. I could see his form laying on the ground and covering his nose with his front paws. “Well you couldn’t have brought me here for no reason. I guess the only thing to do is to go in.” I reason with myself. “You stay here, Wrex. Alright?” Once I’m sure he stays put I begin walking into the same forest I used to so many years ago.