//------------------------------//
// Every moment of her life 
// Story: Shimmer 
// by CrescentShimmer 
//------------------------------//

XIV:

Dusk was settling in over Trottston and Skyward was becoming increasingly nervous. His wings were tired from all the flying he had done today; circling the tree in his yard for hours out of anxiousness. He paced back and forth through his entrance room hallway waiting on Twilight’s knock on the door. Fifteen minutes go by before that knock came. It wasn’t loud, but it was abrupt, and it startled him. He walked over to the door, deviating from the path he was pacing in for the first time in an hour. 

“Are you ready?” Twilight asked softly; noticing that Skyward was still, if not more than the last time they had met, upset.

“As I’ll ever be…” He was breathing hard. Twilight almost wanted to try and comfort him, but she knew that what she was asking of him would take this toll. Skyward walked out his door, past Twilight, and inhaled a breath of cool night air. 

“This way” he said. She followed him to the side of his house. “We’ll do it here. What will you have me do?”

“All I need you to do stand still and tell me if it works.” Twilight was getting uneasy.

“Just… go.” He braced himself slightly, unsure of what to expect.

“For Crescent.” Twilight said as her horn began to glow the light purple that it does.

“For Crescent.” Skyward repeated in a whisper.

An orb, no larger than an apple, formed in front of Twilight. She remained focused; she understood the importance of concentrating on this spell. The orb drifted toward Skyward. His eyes were closed, but he could see the light brightening from the inside of his eyelids. His eyes shot open as the orb dematerialized and entered his pupils. He felt darkness beginning to shroud everything, until even the moon above him was black. 

“My… my eyes are open. But I see nothing.” Skyward said as he put a hoof in front of his face.

“You’re okay, right?” Twilight replied immediately.

“Yeah, just… blind.” He felt around at the ground. “This is how Crescent lives?”

“Every moment of her life…” Twilight flipped open her book to the other spell. “Are you ready for the other one?”

“Yes. I’ve experienced as much of this as I can bear. To think a filly could grow up into the mare she is with a disability like this makes me rethink a lot of things. She isn’t weaker than us because she’s blind; she’s stronger for that very reason.” He took a step back. “Go for it, Twilight.”

Twilight closed her eyes. Her horn began to emit purple light once more as another orb formed before her. This one was nearly twice the size of the first, and in turn, Twilight was having twice the difficulty keeping it together. The ball of pure magic drifted toward Skyward. It didn’t matter if he had his eyes open or not, he could not see; but he was terrified. The orb shifted its shape into that of a pony as in engulfed Skyward. He tensed up violently as the magical material entered him through his pupils just as the other spell had done. Twilight kept her eyes closed to keep focused on completing the spell. Skyward was in pain. His eyeballs felt as if they were on fire. As Twilight was finishing the spell, Skyward let out a quiet, but deep scream from the pain. He fell to his knees on the grass of his lawn, panting. Twilight rushed over to his side.

“Are you okay!?” She helped him up.

“I’m fine.” He was breathing heavily as he rose with his eyes still closed.

“Can you see? Open your eyes!” Twilight was staring him in the face. His eyelids lifted open slowly until his pupils were completely exposed. He looked right into Twilight’s eyes. “You can see…” she sighed. “It worked.”


“What worked?” Came a voice from behind.