Shut The Blinds

by The Rainbow Blunderbolt


Empty Eye Sockets

Chapter eight: Empty Eye Sockets

“I’m home!” Spike’s voice called from the main floor of the Library beneath Twilight.

Twilight looked up from the book she was reading irritably. It was about time he got home. But she was just getting to the good part, there was no way she could put this book down now. Even with that fact, she managed to put the book down on her bed, putting the bookmark in to mark her page. She was very tempted to keep reading, but things had to be done. Besides, she had something to tell him. Something that was very important.

Twilight quickly trotted down the stairs to see Spike standing in the doorway with a few plastic bags in his claws. He also had a large white box that was balanced perfectly on top of his head. For a moment, Twilight was flabbergasted. How in the hell did he manage that? Then she saw his scales were flattened by the weight of the box. She pursed her lips together in annoyance. Letting it go, she met him halfway and pulled the box off his head with her magic.

“Oh, hey, Twilight! I bought…” Seeing her venomous expression as she placed the box on the kitchen counter made him think twice about finishing the sentence. If there was one thing he didn’t want to do today, it would have to be making Twilight mad. She was already moody from earlier, and it would probably be for the best if he didn’t add to that. So, with that in mind, he quickly ran into the kitchen after her and opened the box. What she saw was a dozen delicious looking, pink frosting covered cupcakes.

“Cupcakes?” he offered, putting the bags he was holding down on the floor beside him.

Twilight held her unamused expression for only a few more moments before sighing and shaking her head in annoyance. She could tell that Spike was incredibly awkward in this strange situation.

“Where were you?” she asked, taking a particularly delicious looking cupcake in her magic and nibbling on it. These were good. She finished the rest in around four bites, making quick work of the delicacy.

“Oh, just out shopping,” Spike shrugged. He slowly began taking various items out of the bags one by one. These items varied from milk, to quills (like she needed any more of those), to scissors, and some other items she recognized but didn’t particularly care for.

“Well, you certainly went all out on your shopping,” she commented. She decided to make herself useful and put the milk in the fridge, as well as putting the quills with all her others.

“Hey, we were out of milk. Besides, I needed some scissors,” Spike defended, grabbing a cupcake and taking a bite from it. His face lit up as he ate it in, at the most, two bites. “Mmmm…” he mumbled in pleasure as he swallowed greedily.

“Don’t worry about it, Spike. Princess Celestia said you were out running some errands,” Twilight explained.

“That reminds me…” Spike said quietly, turning to face Twilight. “What did she want anyways? She seemed to be in kind of a hurry.”

“Oh, she just wanted to discuss some things that had to do with the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight answered simply.

Spike looked a bit disappointed. “Ah well. Makes sense,” he shrugged.

Rolling her eyes, she suddenly spotted something that lay in one of the bags. Spike must have forgot to put it in the fridge or wherever it was supposed to go. Lighting up her horn, she took the item out. To her surprise, it was…

“Hayfries?” she said in curiosity. She picked another item out. “Bananas?”

“Yep. I knew we were running out, so I figured I would get some more.”

The unicorn nodded in approval before putting both items in the fridge. She turned back to Spike and gave him a brief nuzzle. “I can always count on you, Spike,” she said kindly.

Spike gave a smug smile, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yeah, I know,” he said happily. “Number one assistant, remember?”

Twilight pulled her face away and rolled her eyes in amusement. Then, her expression became rather serious. Spike saw this and gulped in anticipation. What did she want this time?

“Spike, I need to ask you something very important,” she said, producing the atmosphere of a drill sergeant.

“Ask away, Twilight sir!” Spike answered, giving the unicorn an enthusiastic salute and standing to face her at attention.

Twilight rolled her eyes at her assistant’s actions. Soon enough, she got right down into business.

“Well, as you already know, Rainbow Dash was attacked by a dragon, right?” she reviewed to him. By the look on his face, he seemed to be a bit confused as to what Twilight was getting at.

“Right…and?” he asked uncertainly.

“AND, you’re a dragon. Therefore, I want you…”

“Yes?”

“To…”

“Yes?”

“Go and…”

“Go and what?” Spike grumbled in anticipation. He hated all this stalling. “Get down to the point, Twilight!”

“Hold your horses, Spike. I was just getting to that,” Twilight said. “What I want you to do is go and find the dragon that did it.”
After she said that, Spike could feel himself deflate. That certainly wasn’t what he had been expecting.

“What!? Are you serious, Twilight!?” Spike exclaimed incredulously, holding his hands over his head in shock. Of all the crazy ideas Twilight had to come up with…

“Yes, I am quite serious, Spike,” Twilight answered. When Spike looked at her like she had lobsters crawling out of her ears, she raised an eyebrow at him. What was his problem? In a huff, she began pacing in front of him. While she did so, she began to explain her incredibly brilliant plot.

“Look, a dragon doesn’t get away with blinding a pony, much less killing one. Not here. Justice needs to be served and I want answers. I’m sure some ponies will as well. So, who better to get those answers from a dragon than another dragon, am I right?” Twilight asked eagerly. She stopped her quick pace and turned to face Spike once again. Unfortunately, he still looked rather unsure of her plan, and was quite possibly questioning her sanity at the moment.

“Umm…I don’t know, Twilight,” he said skeptically, rubbing his hand against the back of his head in nervous confusion. Suddenly, a realization came to him. “Did Princess Celestia set you up to this?” he asked, wanting to know if his suspicions were correct.

“Nope. I thought of it myself while you were out,” Twilight said smugly, proud of herself. Sighing, she walked closer to Spike and looked at him with pleading eyes. “Please, Spike. This is really, really important to me. And, if not for me, then do it for Rainbow Dash. Just…please?”

Spike looked at her eyes in sadness. She was so annoying when she did that.

“Come on, Twilight…you know that…” he trailed off, considering the offer. There were pros and cons laid out for miles, that much was obvious. But what good would come out of this? What difference would he actually make by agreeing to this crazy idea? That question seemed to be a bit harder for him to figure out. Still, maybe he could find the answer along the way. And he HAD been wanting to go on some adventures lately...

“…fine,” he sighed begrudgingly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Twilight’s eyes lit up in joy as the baby dragon agreed. “Oh yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Spike!” she exclaimed, scooping spike up in her front legs and embracing him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“IF!”

She stopped her hugging abruptly, dropped him onto the floor, and looked at him questioningly.

“I’ll only go if Princess Celestia says it’s okay,” Spike said firmly.

Twilight Sparkle thought about what Spike had said thoroughly in her mind for a few moments. That seemed like a rational compromise. He was still saying ‘yes’, after all. And she didn’t want to go against her dear teacher, especially if the princess disapproved of her (brilliant) idea. That was the absolute last thing she wanted to do. But what did she have to be worried about? Of course Princess Celestia would think her proposal was great. She knew that her teacher had complete and total faith in her.

Suddenly, her mind was struck with a strange sense of deja vù. Hadn’t she said something like that before? And wasn’t it…oh yeah. The Summer Sun Celebration. That’s where it happened.

She shook her head. This time it would be different, this time Princess Celestia would agree with her. Without a doubt in her kind, she looked back to Spike.

“Deal,” she agreed, holding out her hoof for Spike to shake.

Spike took it and the deal was set.

“So, I’ll send her my offer when I send my next friendship report,” Twilight promised. “Thanks again, Spike.”

“You’re welcome, Twilight,” Spike replied. “Now…” He stole a glance at the lumpy bags still lying on the floor of the library. “I gotta finish unpacking these.”

Twilight nodded. She then turned around to face the stairs and began to climb up them. When she reached the top, she turned back to Spike and called out over her shoulder, “Can you heat up some hay fries for dinner?”

“Alright. Do you want some now?” Spike asked.

“No, I’m not hungry right now,” Twilight told him. Before she finally disappeared into the sanctuary she called a room, she called back down to Spike, “Thanks again, Spike. You’re the best.”

Spike rolled his eyes in a good-natured fashion and called back to up her, “You’re welcome!”

Finally, after the lengthy conversation, Twilight made it back to her room in peace. As she trotted slowly back to her bed, she replayed the exchange over and over again in her head. It hadn’t gone exactly how she had pictured it going, but it was still pretty close nonetheless. Still, she didn’t have any need to worry about her plan. Spike had agreed, and step one was complete. Now she just needed to start on step two, getting Princess Celestia’s approval. But that wouldn’t be all that hard to complete, she told herself.

She decided it would be best if she didn’t worry about it any longer. To do that, she had an option that was guaranteed to work without fail.

Reading.

She hopped onto her bed and held the book in her magic. Upon closer examination, she was about two-thirds of the way through the novel. It wasn’t as fast as her usual progress when it came to novels, she admitted, but she had read about four books before this, and it was rather long…

She could worry about that later. All she wanted to do now was get back to the page she was on and get lost in the words the many pages held for her. She would let the concept of time escape her as she read on and on and on. That usually happened when she read books that she enjoyed. And that just so happened to be almost every book she had ever come across.

However, before indulging herself with the delicious prose the book had to offer, she began to think about her letter. It wouldn’t be quite as important as the one she had sent earlier about Rainbow Dash’s condition, but it would still be pretty important. If she wanted to pull this off (which she would with flying colors) then she would have to subtle. There was a very fine line between asking your teacher something and begging your teacher for something, and if she didn’t want to jump over that line like a ballerina, she would have to be careful with this. Perhaps, she thought, it could be a little side note that came after the letter itself. That sounded good for now, at least. She would think more into the matter when she was sending her next friendship report. There, she had accomplished her small goal for the day.

Smiling to herself, she opened the book.

“Iron Wing scrambled away just in time to escape the blade that was stabbed into the dirt where his throat had been just a moment ago. Once he got to his hooves he galloped down the streets of the small town where he was currently residing, desperate to get away from the mysterious assailant hot on his hooves. As he ran, he was careful to avoid the ponies clustering around him, but one or two times he found himself pushing unfortunate ponies out of his way.

Onward and onward he dashed through the puzzled crowds of ponies that littered the streets, looking for something, anything to delay his attacker. However, luck was not on his side. The surprised shouts of the ponies behind told him that the assailant was gaining on him. So, why not beat speed with speed? With that thought in mind, he started to get faster, pushing his already tired legs close to their breaking point.

Like a brown blur he ran down the streets, his attacker still trailing closely behind him. Things were going well for him so far. His stride had not failed him and he was still on his feet, which was a good thing. The worst thing that could have possibly happened right at that moment was if his stride faltered and he plummeted into the dirt. But there was no way that was going to happen.

Suddenly, his front right hoof collided with an unknown bit of debris in his path, which sent him sprawling into the dirt, landing face first.

Luck was really not on his side today.

He spit the dirt out from his mouth and scrambled to regain his bearings. As he stumbled his way onto his hooves, a heavy weight slammed into him and held him to the ground on his back in a very vulnerable position. Grunting and struggling, he tried with all his might to release himself from the vice-like grasp, but to no avail. He remained trapped between the assailants hooves and the ground beneath him. As he struggled, he looked up to see piercing yellow eyes staring back at his own.

He felt his heart stop. He knew those eyes…he swore he knew them. But that was impossible…he was dead. Iron Wing saw him die.

Didn’t he?

The mysterious, or not so mysterious, pony stared back at him. He was just standing there. Menacingly. Iron Wing just wished that the attacker would get killing him over with now that he had the chance. The waiting was just torturous…

And actually quite awkward.

Desperate for something else to look at other than the haunting yellow orbs, he looked down. To his surprise, he saw a long, red, ugly scar that ran down the length of his belly and reached its end at his inner thigh. He narrowed his eyes in confusion but was caught off guard when he heard the assailant speak.

WARNING: GRAPHIC PARTS AHEAD

“So you’ve seen it then, huh?” the dark, thin voice said.

He moved his eyes up just in time for a small hoof-held blade to stab his right eye.

“Guess we’ll just have to fix that.”

The burning ember of pain that was in his eye only grew worse and worse as the pain rocketed through his body. His screams of utter agony were ear shattering to any pony who happened to hear it. Unfortunately though, no pony was around to do that. The only pony he was aware of being close to him was the cloaked assailant on top of him, holding a knife in his eye. But all those thoughts disappeared as the pain kept coursing relentlessly through his body, shaking him to his very core. The pain was utterly unbearable and unlike anything he had ever felt. To put it simply, it felt almost like a million fire ants were crawling in his eye, eating it, tearing it, and ripping it to shreds.

Just as he thought it couldn’t get any worse he felt the knife dig deeper into his wounded eye socket. What was even worse, was he could feel the sharp object twisting around. Blood was pouring profusely from his heavy wound and he could feel the veins in his eye break and shatter upon impact with the knife. It almost reminded him of a hot knife surfing easily through butter.

His primal instincts kicked in and he started kicking and struggling wildly, flailing his front legs in any direction they could. There was nothing he wanted more in this world at that moment than to get this pony off of him and the knife out of his eye. However, it seemed that all his frantic struggling accomplished was the knife sinking deeper into his eye.

Great, he had just made his assailant’s job easier.

The blood was flowing down his face and he could feel the sticky liquid pooling around the back of his head. He realized that if he didn’t get out of this soon, he would most likely die of blood loss. But he couldn’t let that happen. He needed to get out of this. He needed to survive!

The struggle continued for a few more minutes. Much to Iron Wing’s misfortune, it seemed that this was a losing battle for him. His screams still continued, but they were steadily growing weaker as his strength was sapped away with the blood that poured out of his wound.

“This is the end,” he thought grimly. “Oh, Celestia I’m dying. I’m dying.”

But he then felt relief. The knife had been released from his eye socket, thank heavens. However, it still burned like the sun, but, luckily, he no longer felt the flaring pain that had been there just a moment before.

His right eye was positively ruined, that he was sure of. Luckily for him, he still had his other eye. As his one good eye looked around wildly, it came to a halt when he saw the attacker raise the knife menacingly above his left eye.

That was it then, he supposed. All he could do now was brace himself for a slow and painful death. As he did so, he suddenly felt the attacker thrown off of him.

But…how was that possible ?Weren’t they the only ponies around?

There was no time to worry about that now, he told himself. He scrambled away from the site of his assault as fast and as gracelessly as he could. Who needed grace when you could live another day, right? When he figured he was far enough away, he held his injured eye with his right front hoof, shielding its ugly truth from the outside world.

To his surprise, he saw a small earth pony holding his attacker down with all their might. Utterly confused by where this strange pony had come from, he realized that more important matters were at hoof. He was about to warn his savior about the knife, but he suddenly saw it lying uselessly only five feet, give or take, from where he was laying. Without so much as a second thought, he grabbed the knife stained with his own blood in his free hoof. Upon close examination, he noted that it was quite an odd weapon. It was small, didn’t have a very sharp blade, and oozed the aura of not being able to do much damage. And yet…

He grimaced as he thought more about it. However, he was only reminded of it more when he felt the blood still pouring swiftly out of his eye socket.

The harmless little knife had done so much…”

Twilight Sparkle closed the book quickly, not even glancing at what page she had left off at. She hurriedly put it back on the shelf from whence it came. As soon as her magic released her book, she began to feel sick to her stomach. Books never affected her this much, but it looked like she had just found the one exception to that.

Desperately wanting something else to do, she grabbed a quill and a scroll from her shelves and put them down in front of her. She wanted something else running through her mind. Anything but…that. However, nothing came to distract her as that scene played over and over again…but as time went on, Iron Wing slowly turned smaller and produced a rainbow mane…

She shook her head frantically and firmly stared at the blank scroll in front of her. Twilight would write. She would write. That’s what she was going to do. However, the words that usually came so easily to her were blocked by the image of Rainbow Dash’s limp body, charred, burnt, and utterly dead.