//------------------------------// // The Great Wall of China // Story: A Spectator's Sentryence // by gapty //------------------------------// He almost fell asleep, but an insistent, non-stopping doorbell forced him to stand up and stumble weakly to the door and open it. To his surprise, he saw Fluttershy with folded arms, lowered shoulders, a light blush and, most noticeably, wearing a blindfold. He also saw in his eye corners a rainbow coloured hair disappearing behind a bush, but it was probably just a fever dream he had. “Uhm, hi!” Fluttershy greeted him, almost too quietly to hear her. “Hello, Fluttershy,” Flash replied and coughed. “Why the blindfold?” “Oh, ehm, you don’t know?”  “Don’t know what?”  “Did you read our messages?” “If today, no, I’m feeling too awful for anything.” Her posture suddenly eased, as her stance got more confident. “Are you exhausted?” she asked, her voice being full of worry. “Kinda,” he replied. “Let me help you!” Flash smiled. She was always so kind to everyone. No wonder everyone of the Rainbooms were so popular, as they put everyone else above themselves and were always ready to help someone in need. “Thank you, but I’m fine.” He coughed. “I’ll get over it myself.” “No, I—I insist!” She clenched her hands into fists. “You, Flash, are looking awful!” “You’re blindfolded.” “Oh, right.” Her voice became barely hearable, before she got back her courage. “But I hear it!” “Really, there is no need. I don’t want you to catch my cold.” “Don’t worry about me, Flash, I’ll be fine. May I please enter? Just for this day.” He sighed. He was simply too tired to care. “If you insist.” He opened the door and went to the side, waiting till she’d pass. “Uhm,” he heard her say, as she still remained before the door. “Oh, right.” He chuckled nervously and grabbed her hand to lead her in. “Forgot about the blindfold.” “It’s nothing.” “Let me lead you to Sunset,” Flash said. Fluttershy stopped in her movement. “Sunset?” “Yeah, Sunset. You know that she’s here with me, don’t you?” “Why is it Sunset for you?” Flash gave her a confused look, until he remembered that she couldn’t see him. “I—What?” “Oh, uhm, nevermind then,” she stuttered. “How, uhm, is she doing?” “She’s taking her new, or technically old, body well, even if she’s not really communicating.” “New body?” Flash didn’t answer, as he tried to process why Fluttershy seemed to be surprised about the state of one of her best friends. However, he began to cough, and suddenly all he wanted was to lay down, as the strong tiredness took back over his body. “Where is Sunset?” Fluttershy asked. “Ehm,” he looked around and saw her looking curiously at Fluttershy, “right next to us.” “Lead me to where you can lay down. I’m taking care of you!” “But the blindfold—” “Later!” He led her to the couch in the living room and let himself fall immediately on it, as his coughing got even worse. His lungs were like on fire, and his clothes were by now soaked in with water. “Alright. Where is Sunset now?” “Next to you,” he replied. “I think she wants to talk with you.” “She can wait. I’m gonna turn around, say stop when Sunset is behind me.” “Uhm, okay.” He couldn’t make sense of her weirdness, but waited nonetheless till Fluttershy met the requirement. “Stop.” She immediately peaked under her blindfold and glanced carefully at Flash.  “Oh my, you look really awful! I’m gonna make you something to eat!” “There’s no—”  Before he could finish his sentence, she walked away and closed the door to the kitchen, and, if he heard it correctly, even locked it. This was strange of her, like every of her behaviour, but he was too tired to think about it. By now, such a strong weakness came all over his body, that he couldn’t move any muscle anymore, not even speaking about the constant changing of freezing and burning sensation. Nonetheless, he took the last strength to look up and saw Sunset before the kitchen door, tapping with her hooves on it.  For someone with the superpower to understand animals, Fluttershy was completely deaf to her unicorn friend. “We can’t wait till the next day! He’s gonna die if it remains with him!” “But Sunset told us that—” “She could be wrong! He’s coughing non-stop, his hands are shaking when he walks and he’s completely wet from his sweats. We need to separate it from him!” “…” “Twilight—” “I’m thinking. Do you think you’ll be able to withstand it?” “I, ehm—” “Prepare a rope and open the front door, then go to the room it is in and remove your blindfold.” “But—” “Remember, you’ll only be able to interact with it when you perceive it visually. Throw a rope at it immediately. Rainbow will come in blindfolded and take you outside.” “…” “You’re the most unsure of us, Flutters, which weirdly helps against it, and Flash lived with it for several days. I know you’ll be able to do it.” “I—I trust you.” Flash must have fallen asleep, because he was suddenly covered in several blankets and feeling better—still sick, but not as awful as the last moment he recalled. The TV was on, playing another episode of the mystery show he had by now seen for several days. He had seen that one before; it theorised how behind the human’s view creatures existed and fought between each other, unbeknownst to us and were never measurable. He didn’t like that one, as it reminded him too much of him and Equestrian magic, so he reached out to the remote on the table and turned off the TV. “You’re already awake?” He heard a southern accented voice speak to him. “How are you feeling?” “Better,” he muttered. “I think I fell asleep.” “Nah, you fell unconscious, Sugarcube, but I don’t blame you. That, uhm, fever took you hard.” Steps from the kitchen came nearer, and soon he saw Applejack offering him a bowl with soup. “Here, take this. You need it.” He sat up, even if it hurt to move, and slowly took sip by sip. It felt good, as the hot liquid warmed him up, even if he had to be cautious to not accidentally cough and spill it all over himself. During that, Applejack was sitting next to him, remaining silent, as she was busy on her phone. “Thank you,” he muttered when he finished the soup. “It’s nothin’, just helping you out.” “So, uhm, where is Sunset?” Applejack looked up. “Oh, right. The one with the new body, I assume as a unicorn, right?” He raised his eyebrows. “Well, what else would I mean?” “Nevermind that. So, Sunset’s out with Fluttershy. You need to rest before taking care of, well, her.” Flash scratched the back of his head. He felt better to notice that now a second Rainboom was saying weird stuff, but he still wasn’t healthy enough to come up with reasons, and asking questions would seem weird in his eyes—it was probably, like usually, some kind of inside information regarding Equestrian magic anyway. He sniffed and looked down on his clothes. “Oof, I smell awful. I‘m taking a shower.” How is the plan going? We had to differentiate. Flash was too sick. I feared it. How is he? You don’t have to worry, Applejack wrote that he’s already doing a lot better after we removed it from his house. You did it? How? Well, the actual plan was for Fluttershy to hold it with a rope while Rainbow would be blindfolded and drag her to your apartment, but— She looked at it, didn’t she? Well, she knew about the proportionality of confidence and its effect, so this was her own fault. Fluttershy was on the other hand amazing, dragging both of them to the destination. She’s always stronger than she appears. Tell her I’m proud of her. How do you keep it at my place? We have many volunteers from our school, so each takes their turn watching it for 15 minutes. It’s devastating to see how each is broken down when they leave it. I can’t imagine how it must’ve been for Flash living with it. Poor guy, he didn’t deserve any of it. And yet you want to involve him in your plan to defeat it? It will work. He’s perfect for it. Do you know or do you hope it? I—both. It has to work.  I see nothing else. Because I know that it won’t with me. For a fever, he got better way too quickly, as when he came out of the shower, he felt already healthy and his coughing had stopped. However, this also meant that his mind could fully comprehend the past events, so when he came back to the living room, where Applejack was still chatting over her phone, he stood before her, his fists clenched. “Alright, just what is going on?” Applejack raised her head. “Ehm, how’re you feelin’?” She grinned nervously. “I’m feeling great, so now explain to me this: How does it come that neither you nor Fluttershy knew of Sunset being a unicorn? She lived here with me for three days now, and yet you, her best friends, didn’t care the slightest for her!” “Flash—” “No, you listen!” he shouted. “I thought that you knew she was a unicorn, I thought there was some Equestrian magic reason that she had to live with me, but now I know that she had to because you abandoned her! You, her best friends, just forgot about her! I heard you talking with each other yesterday, and not once did any of you wonder what had happened to her!” Applejack stared at him, her mouth open and her hands holding her phone tightly. “And you know what?” he continued. “I know exactly how she feels! You, Fluttershy, everyone of you has to apologise to her for your ignorance! She will not say anything to you about her being hurt, but she is hurt, deeply! The world doesn’t revolve only around you, Rainbooms, not even speaking that Sunset’s a part of you, and just because only you can fight Equestrian magic, it doesn’t mean that now you’re the main characters and others are just some replaceable extras!” He took a break to catch his breath. “Flash, is—” She looked to the side. “Is that how you feel?” “It isn’t about me.” He gritted his teeth. “And don’t try to deviate from the topic!” “I’m not, Flash. If you—” “Again you talk about me, Applejack! Just admit that you’re wrong!” “Calm down!” She suddenly stood up and threw him to the couch. “I will tell you exactly what happened over the last few days, got it?” Flash stared at her, and when his first shock faded, he nodded slightly. “Good, and no more interruption!” “Why did I agree to this?” “Shut up! The—the Great and—Non-Magical Trixie is trying to prove—” “That’s what I mean, Darling. You were supposed to lead me, not ramble about your insecurities as a magician.” “I am—Powerful!” “No, all you do is talk about yourself, while I still have no idea where to go!” “I’ll tell you, but first, Trixie—she—” “Grr. I told Twilight that you were the wrong person. But no, ‘her acting is a form of her own insecurity’—as if. You’re just a narcissistic, self-obsessed magician-wannabe!” “You take that back! Who was the one ripping her own clothes seeing it?” “Oh, now you can speak without stuttering? Why don’t you take your courage to finally tell me where to go!” “I’ll show you where to go! Here!” “—Did you just throw a peanut butter cracker at me?” “…” “Hey! I’m talking to you!” “One moment. Let Trixie try something.” “I swear, if you throw at me your gooey snacks one more—what are the sounds?” “The Great and Smart Trixie’s is throwing them at it.” “Please explain to me why you—” “It looks confused, and Trixie’s confidence is back!” “What?” “Yes, take that, stupid face! I’m the best magician, not you and your telekinesis!” “Wait, please don’t tell me you see Twilight in it.” “What is it like when your stupid glasses are smeared and sticky? Hahaha!” “Why out of everyone—” “You’ll never sabotage my show again! Trixie believed that she had real magic! You made Trixie look like a fool! You—you—I’m the magician—I have—real—magic—” “—I’ll just call Twilight for an exchange to lead me. And notify her that stupid actions help apparently.” Usually, Flash was quick to fall asleep whenever it was quiet, and even when he had important exams on the next day, he could remain calm and not let his thoughts be worried for the next day. However, this didn’t apply to today. Applejack told him everything she knew, how the unicorn she saw was actually a being breaking any confidence and feeding off the doubts of a person. She also told him of the plan of using Flash’s morning state to give him Sunset’s geode—which apparently would do something; she didn’t know though what exactly it did that Sunset couldn’t stay in the world, and the latter had refused to even mention anything related to that. To be clear, he was more than glad that finally someone had explained to him what was going on, and even more he felt relieved that, for once, he would be taking part in fighting against a threat. However, this also meant that he was not only excited, but also feeling pressure and worried if the plan would even work. Would he even wake up? Would his mind really be “empty” and “fitting” for this task? There was also the part that he would presumably not even remember anything happening, which, to be honest, rather annoyed him, but considering how Sunset had to stay in Equestria, it was probably for the best. All these thoughts wouldn’t be in his head if he didn’t know anything of the plan, but he was nonetheless relieved that, this time, it were his own thoughts. He felt blind recalling how the unicorn was obviously not Sunset at all, but Applejack assured him that this was normal, and that it was a wonder that he survived with it for so long—that sentence still gave him the shudders. If he didn’t accidentally took it with him outside, no one would’ve even know about it being with him, and— He shook the thought away. He didn’t have to worry, he just had to fall asleep, so he turned to the wall and closed his eyes.