//------------------------------// // Natural Bonfire // Story: Beyond Blind Eyes // by Lunaric //------------------------------// Sunny waved to the foals behind her as she walked away. Never a dull moment with the little ones. Looking around, the pleasant scenery of the park soothed her mind. Such a good idea to have a park next to the orphanage. Foals always need space to move. Scanning the park for colts and fillies in need, she spotted one white and blue filly, sitting alone in the grass. Sunny altered her path, turning towards the filly. She took her time, meandering across paths towards the filly. As she made her way, she idly noted a few scattered guards standing watch, and nodded to each as she passed them by. One large red guard stood nearby to the little filly. She also passed by a flowerbed on the side of the path. Sunny slowed to a stop and lowered her head. A collection of flowers greeted her eyes. Mostly poppies, with a few miscellaneous flowers mixed in. She nosed through the flowers and despite the abundance of poppies, she could smell the violet mixed in. One might say her nose scrunched up if someone looked closely. Wiping her face clean, she shifted her head to a different part and breathed in deeply. If only there was lavender... Raising back up, she looked up and smiled. It may have been winter, but she rarely felt cold. She could tell that it was pleasantly warm, despite her inclination. She shuffled her large wings and continued on her path. When Sunny got closer, she saw that Aqua was wearing a striped blue and white scarf that was clearly too big. It almost looked like a blanket or an overcoat with its size. Sunny smiled. Must have been given to her by Cotton Ball. She should grow into it nicely, I hope. Like usual, there were a few objects floating around her. The pegasus shook her head lightly, confused. Getting close, Sunny waved to Solid Phalanx, and got a wave back, before approaching the filly. Sunny called out, "Hello, little one." Little Aqua jerked and dropped the magic-resistant training balls floating in her grip creating. Four muffled thuds sounded out as they hit the grass. "Huh? Who is it?" "It's me, Sunny." A giggle from the pegasus. "How are you doing, little one?" "Oh! Hey, Sunny. I'm doing okay, I suppose. I've been trying out a light spell my tutor tried to teach me." Aqua snorted. "Emphasis on tried. It hasn't been working out that well, so I decided to take a break and relax for a bit. How about you?" Aqua began feeling the ground around her, looking for the training balls. "I'm quite good, thank you for asking. Do you mind if I sit next to you?" Sunny tilted her head. "No, no problem. Feel free." "Thank you. Also, relaxing?" Sunny looked at the spheres starting to float around Aqua. "Uh... yeah? It is a nice day. I'm surprised how warm it is. It barely even feels like winter." "It is a very nice day. I'm thankful for the weather ponies who scheduled a sunny day... Celestia's sun also helps." Aqua mumbled to herself. "Are you okay, little one?" "Uh... Nothing. It's fine." The filly's muzzle faced the ground. Before silence could develop between them, Sunny Disposition hummed. "When I asked about you relaxing, I was referring to the fact that you're practising your telekinesis as a..." She paused, a grin splitting her mouth, "Break." "Oh, yeah..." The filly's brow wrinkled. "I assume... that with your reaction, this isn't normal?" Sunny hummed aloud and nodded. "You would be correct. It has been a long while since I last checked any records, but the last pony that had a proficiency akin to yours with telekinesis was over five hundred years ago." She was so kind about it as well... "If nothing else, you are certainly unique, my little filly." A silence grew between the two as Aqua looked down in contemplation. The sounds of birds singing, leaves rustling, and foals playing in the distance provided background noise. They sat together under the sun for a long time. Neither counted the seconds, nor the minutes. Both soaking in what little sunlight there was. Eventually, that silence was broken by Aqua. "Y'know, I used to have some pretty bad eyesight. It's actually kinda funny actually that it got worse." Aqua giggled. "I used to basically require sunglasses when going outside, just so I could see. Still needed to squint even with them on but, hey, at least I could see..." Sunny watched the filly as Aqua's grin slowly changed to a sad smile. "It's ironic... Now that I'm blind, I can enjoy the sun better. Granted, I can't see the beautiful sights, but hey, who knows; Maybe I can feel the mountains in the distance." Aqua chuckled. Sunny covered her mouth with a hoof and giggled. She then looked up in thought. ...believe that might be possible... but... She began to think for a minute, but was interrupted by a guard. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one of the guards giving her a silent signal. Sunny deeply sighed and got up. Back to work... "I'm sorry little one, but I must go. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours of learning a light spell." Aqua looked up at her. "Aw... Well, I suppose I'll see you around, Sunny. Have a good day." "And you as well, my little pony." Time to start her work.