//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - Night Vision - Part 2 // Story: Rain of Fire // by LessThanHuman //------------------------------// It didn’t matter how long or how hard Derpy cried, the pain would not go away. She had been offered the chance to be able to see straight, instead her vision was taken away altogether. Her emotions ran wild as she felt like she was pregnant all over again. The stallion who had promised to be with her forever was gone once he found out and now the stallion who offered to help fix her vision had abandoned her in her darkest hour, literally. Twilights’ heart broke as she listened to Derpy cry and sob incomprehensible words. Iris tried her best to soothe Derpy but she knew her efforts were fruitless. Eventually Derpys’ crying died down as she exhausted herself and fell asleep. Twilight and Iris whispered their options while Derpy slept when they heard what sounded like a dragon and a bat having a screaming match as a fast moving object approached their position. Twilight lit her horn and projected a faint spotlight on what she recognized to be Firestorm. As he got closer to the trio of mares his hind legs stretched out so his talons made contact with the grass. He leaned forward so his front legs and claws touched the ground and combined with his momentum, he twisted his body so he surfed across the grass, finally coming to a stop facing away from the mares. His wings flared and began to glow a brilliant blue. A low vibration coursed through the mares bodies as the light on Firestorms’ wings became drawn into the primary phalanges of his wings. At the peak of the vibrations, when the hum generated by them could not get any louder, Firestorm folded his wings halfway and projected two beams of blur light which intersected somewhere in the center of the cloud mass. The light was sustained for almost three seconds before it ceased altogether. One second later an explosion of blue flames burned across the sky in a halo as they simply destroyed the clouds as they came into contact with. As the event ended, the clear sky let the world glow clearly beneath the moonlight. Firestorm spread his wings and began to absorb the energy from the moonlight and channel it to Iris. He looked over his shoulder at Twilight and Iris through his glowing draconic eyes, “Finish it!” he demanded, his sharp teeth and fangs dripped with saliva as his words dripped with venom. Iris felt the renewed energy washing over her and got into position while Twilight helped Derpy up and got her position in accordance with Iris. As Twilight moved away she could see the energy radiating from Firestorms’ body, it wasn’t being focused like before. Yet she could tell by Iris concentration she was getting al she needed. Seconds quickly became minutes and the minutes seemed to drag on for hours as Iris not only finished the initial spell but worked to save Derpys’ vision. Finally the time came, Iris horn stopped glowing and she slowly stepped away from Derpy. “You can open your eyes now Derpy,” Iris whispered. Very slowly, Derpys’ right eye slowly fluttered open. Iris was pleased to see the coloration in her right eye was back to normal, indicating she could properly see out of it. Derpy blinked both eyes open. She could see, her eyes were lined up properly and she could see. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she looked at the world with her vision clearer than ever. “Thank you,” she sobbed, “thank you so much!” Derpy turned to Firestorm. As she opened her mouth to speak, Firestorms’ wings flared and began to glow the bright blue when he used whatever offensive combat to dissipate the clouds. The blue light quickly transitioned into red and Firestorm vanished with a crack of thunder. Derpy looked at her hooves and then at Iris and Twilight. Derpy took a few clumsy steps as she began to adjust to her new vision, meaning no linger having to compensate for double vision. As she reached Twilight she pulled her into a hug and through soft sobs whispered, “He didn’t give up, he came back.” Twilight tightened her grip around Derpy for a moment before she broke the hug and let go. Iris approached Derpy with some medical equipment. She examined Derpys’ eyes and when she was done she moved to Twilight, “Could you hold these up, one in each hoof?” she asked giving Twilight a small flashlight and a magnifying glass Twilight complied while Iris sat on her haunches beside her and held up a pen in one hoof and nothing in the other, “Derpy, can you tell me how many items we are holding?” Twilight leaned towards Iris, “What are you doing? There’s no way she could-” “Three,” Derpy said confidently. Twilight looked at Derpy, which through the darkness, meant looking at the silhouette of a pony. “Good,” Iris said, “Who is holding what?” “You’re holding a pen, Twilight is holding a magnifying glass and your little flashlight,” Derpy answered. “Good,” Iris said taking the other two objects from Twilight, “I just want to test your hoof eye coordination, Iris said before throwing the objects across the ground between herself and Derpy, “Please collect and return the items as quickly as possible.” Derpy did as she was instructed, trotting across the grass and retrieving each object before returning them to Iris in about the same amount of time it would have taken her to directly walk to Iris. Iris looked at Twilight, the moonlight revealing the shocked expression on her face. Derpy looked between the two mares, confused, “What is it?” “How did she do that?” Twilight asked. “Do what?” Derpy asked. “I’ll show you. Derpy, look straight ahead at Twilight, please.” Derpy complied. Iris shined her flashlight into Derpys’ eye at an angle. Twilight gasped at what she saw, “Eye shine?” Iris turned off her flashlight, “Yes, both her eyes have tapeta lucidum.” “What’s that?” Derpy asked. Iris looked at Derpy, “It means you have night vision Derpy.” ***** Firestorm materialized at the lake where he had spent the day with Rainbow Dash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. His mind raced with his blazing anger. Thoughts waged war in his mind as his emotions made him sick. He looked at the water and stood up on his hind legs holding his left arm outstretched towards the water while his right arm was drawn back so it was parallel to his head. His wings drew in the moonlights power as he charged another spell. As the spell reached its peak and was ready to be unleashed Firestorm heard Twilights’ voice in his head, “Haven’t you done enough damage tonight?” Firestorm clenched his right hand into a fist and the pent up energy for the spell dissipated. He sat on his haunches staring at the reflection of the moon on the waters glassy surface. Firestorm felt himself beginning to calm down. He was that close that close to blinding somepony he had just me while trying to help her. There was no more doubt in his mind, whatever cruel celestial being had created him or allowed him to be born did so with only the intention of him being an implement of destruction. A few swift wing beats drew his attention to an approaching pegasus. Based on her coordination and speed it was definitely not Derpy. Rainbow Dash skidded to a halt when she realized whatever she was approaching might not be Firestorm. “Uh, Firestorm?” The creature she had been approaching shifted its gaze, “Yes, Rainbow Dash, it’s me…” Rainbow Dash inched closer trying to take in the new fearsome characteristics of Firestorms’ body. The most noticeable was his size, he was easily 50% larger than when they had first met. The next thing she noticed were his glowing draconic eyes. Firestorm made his wings begin to glow a gentle blue to illuminate the rest of his body. That was when Rainbow noticed the teeth, talons, and claws, “What happened to you?” Firestorm looked at her out of the corner of his eye, “I was born.” “Wait so, this is what you really look like?” “Maybe, I don’t know for sure, anything beyond this is too painful to try. Even this far is beyond my control and simply instinct.” “That is so cool!” Rainbow Dash blurted out before clasping her hooves over her mouth. Firestorm smiled at her outburst, “So what are you doing out here so late?” “Oh, well I was out doing one of my late night flight sessions when all of a sudden there was this explosion in the clouds and I was trying to see if I could find what caused it.” Firestorm let out a heavy sigh, “You found it…” Rainbows’ eyes went wide, “You did that!?” Firestorm nodded. “Why, what happened?” Firestorm explained to Rainbow Dash all the events of the day, holding back nothing. Rainbow would occasionally interrupt to ask a question but for the most part stayed quiet. When Firestorm was done, he was considerably calmer but he had not shifted back into his basic pony form. He looked over the water again while Rainbow Dash processed all the information, “But Derpy can see now, right?” Firestorm nodded. “Can she see straight?” “I think so, once I knew she could see again I didn’t stick around long enough to find out.” “Why didn’t you?” “Because I was upset. All I wanted to do was help her see straight, instead I almost blind her!” “Well yeah, but you fixed it for her right? You said it yourself, she can see again.” “Yes, but you don’t know what it’s like to fail somepony like that,” Firestorm looked at Rainbow Dash. He slowly stretched his wing out over her back as it began to glow a subtle red. Rainbow Dash began to feel strange emotions as she continued to look into Firestorms’ draconic eyes. She felt his anger when he failed, she felt his power as he recalled dissipating the clouds with his magic, and she felt his joy when Derpy could see again. Rainbow Dash and Firestorm closed their eyes as they began to share memories and feelings with each other. Firestorm felt Rainbows’ joy and pride when she performed the sonic rainboom and saved the Wonderbolts and her friend. Rainbow felt his pain while Firestorm recalled the day his parents died. Firestorm felt Rainbows’ fear when she realized Scootaloo might never fly. Rainbow felt his relaxed happiness as he basked in the glow of the moonlight on the top of a hill. They shared feelings and memories between each other back and forth for hours. Eventually Firestorm began to feel Rainbows’ physical exhaustion and withdrew his wing severing their connection. Rainbow Dash was leaning against Firestorm and nearly half asleep when he broke their mental bond. Rainbow Dash groaned and perked up slightly, “Awww, what’d you do that for, I was having fun watching you fight off a hydra from a village in… wherever that was.” Firestorm smiled, “That was actually Ponyville a long time ago…” “That’s so cool,” Rainbow Dash said as she started falling asleep. “The villagers didn’t seem to think so.” Rainbow giggled in her sleep. Firestorm touched her head with his wing, “It’s late, I need to get you to bed, where do you live?” he whispered. Firestorm looked up to see a large cloud bed in front of him with a Wonderbolts Bed Spread. He looked around the room observing several Daring Do books lying haphazardly on the cloud floor. On the walls were Wonderbolt posters, one of which being an autographed poster of Spitfire. On the nightstand was a picture of Rainbow Dash as a filly with an older stallion who bore a striking resemblance to her who Firestorm assumed to be her father. Firestorm twisted his body and wrapped his arms around behind Rainbows’ back and lifted her into his arms and carried her to her bed. His wing stretched out over the blankets and with a gentle red glow, drew his wing back and the blankets along with it. Using the precision of a skilled surgeon, Firestorm placed Rainbow Dash in her bed and pulled the covers up over body until they covered her shoulders. Firestorm looked down at Rainbow while she peacefully slept. Every fiber of his being screamed not to, but he leaned down and gently kissed Rainbow Dash on her cheek. As he rose back to his full height he took a step back before turning around and making his bed in his room at the Ponyville Bed and Breakfast. He sat down at the foot of his bed and looked out the window, “Goodnight Rainbow Dash, sleep well.”