“Okay, Princess Twilight. The surgery was a complete success!” The chipper voice of a nurse called through the darkness.
“That’s wonderful,” Twilight said, breathing a sigh of relief. Finally the strain, the headaches, the dizziness would go away. “Could you turn the lights back on?”
“Oh, about that, Princess… we’ve fixed the problem, but for now, we have to keep your eyes covered so they can heal.”
“What?!” Twilight practically shouted. “I’m blind?”
“It’ll only be for a week, Princess. Your eyesight will be perfect after that. If you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with the doctor.”
Twilight heard the nurse’s steps fade away and sighed. “No sight. None whatsoever…”
And then a cannon went off, followed by: “SURPRISE!!!”
Twilight screamed and probably would’ve fallen over had she been standing. “Pinkie! When did you get here?”
“Just now.” Her voice took a confused tone. “Didn’t you see me come in?”
“No, Pinkie. I can’t see anything right now.”
“You can’t?” A much quieter voice asked. “Oh, I’m sorry… But the nurse said your eyes should be fixed now.”
Twilight started at Fluttershy’s voice. “Is everypony in my room right now?”
“Not everypony, silly,” Pinkie said. “Just me, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and you! It’s your Feel Better Party!”
“So if your eyes are fixed,” Rarity said, “why can’t you see?”
“They have to recover first. So they’re covered.”
“Whoa! Cool! You look like a pirate pony with two eye patches instead of one!” Rainbow was suddenly in Twilight’s face. The alicorn yelped and almost fell off the bed again.
“Whoa, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “She cain’t see ya, remember? You’ll scare the willies out of her or somethin’.”
“I was just saying she looked cool…” Rainbow huffed.
So my books were right… When one sense is lost, the others strengthen to make up for it… “My books!”
The sudden outburst obviously scared all of them. “What about your books, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked timidly.
“I can’t see! How am I supposed to read? I was just in the middle of a new novel, and the hero was just about to make her move to turn the villain’s plot around!”
“What are you talking about?” Pinkie asked.
“Equestria Under Siege,” Twilight said. “I was in the middle of it, and I really want to finish it soon! How am I supposed to now?”
At that moment, the nurse came in, “Princess? I brought you your dinner.”
“Oh. Thanks.” The tray was set down.
“A hay sandwich. I know it’s not much, but there’s only so much we can give you with the least chance you might hurt yourself… How did so much confetti get in this room?”
Before anypony could speak up, someone else came into the room. “Twilight!” It was Spike. “I heard that you’re stuck here for a while, so I thought you’d like this!” Something was set on the bedside table.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“Equestria Under Siege. I figured you’d be reading while you’re stuck in here, so—” Before Spike could go on, somepony in the room shushed him.
“It certainly is nice having all you ponies here,” the nurse said, “But you should probably let Princess Twilight eat and get some rest. You should probably get something to eat as well.”
“We have to go?” Pinkie asked. “But Twilight’s not smiling yet! I can’t end the Feel Better Party when Twilight’s not feeling better!”
Twilight gave a half-forced smile. “I’m feeling a bit better, Pinkie. You guys should go get something to eat.”
“But—”
“I insist. You guys go ahead. Surely you’re hungry.”
“Well… maybe a little,” Applejack said. “Sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yeah. I’ve got my hay sandwich… I’m sure there’s something else I can do to distract me while I’m alone.”
“Alone?” Spike echoed. “But I just got here!”
“And you haven’t eaten all day, have you?” Silence. “Just as I thought. Go with them, Spike, and get yourself something to eat too. Afterwards, you can come right back.”
“C’mon, y’all. Let’s go.” Soon the room was empty. Almost.
“Bye, Twilight! Have fun reading!” Spike called as he left. And he was instantly shushed.
Silence fell over the room. Without noise, the world might as well have been nonexistent. Twilight reached for sandwich, missed a few times, and felt something wetter and squishier. She sniffed her hoof, and then licked it. Frosting. Pinkie Pie must’ve left a cupcake for her. Twilight smiled to herself. Pinkie sure knew how to put a smile on anypony’s face.
Twilight grabbed her hay sandwich and ate it. After that, she ate the cupcake Pinkie had left for her. Vanilla, topped high with frosting (probably pink.)
The nurse later came and took the tray away, and Twilight was left back in her sad state of loneliness. She thought about sleeping, but just couldn’t drift off. All she could do was lie there, bored.
There was a soft knock on the door, accompanied by somepony saying, “Princess?”
The voice sounded familiar, but Twilight just couldn’t place it. “Who is it?”
“Flash Sentry, Your Highness. I’m from the Crystal Empire.”
Right. Twilight recognized him now. The orange pegasus who was one of Cadence’s guards. “What are you doing here?” She asked.
“Shining Armor and Princess Cadence just arrived to see you, Princess. They’re at the castle now.”
“But why are you here?”
“Well… I just wanted to see how you’re doing, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight was intrigued by the tone Flash’s voice had taken. “You can come in.”
A few hoofsteps grew louder, signaling that the pegasus was now in the room. “It’s rather empty in here,” he remarked.
“My friends left to get dinner. They should be back soon.”
“I see.” There was more movement and then a gasp. “Equestria Under Siege?”
“Yeah… I was reading it… but was lot of good it is now that I can’t see.”
Flash was quiet. Twilight wondered if the pegasus had gone, when he spoke again. “Where were you in the book?”
“Um… page 299, I think.”
“Okay.” There was a rustle of pages, and then Flash Sentry started speaking again. It was slow, deliberate… Twilight realized what he was doing. He was reading Equestria under Siege out loud. His voice painted pictures, the sort of which usually only appeared in Twilight’s mind when she herself was reading.
She heard a chair scooting, and Flash sitting down on it, still reading. The hero was about to save the day. She was facing off against the villain, ready to stop him and save Equestria and her coltfriend.
And, just as soon as he’d begun, Flash stopped reading. The story was over. Twilight heard pages turn, and then a cover. He set the book back on the table. “There. Now you’ve read.”
“Um… yeah…” Twilight was practically speechless. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but surely it had been a while. And Flash Sentry read just for her. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure, Princess.”
“Twilight.”
“Excuse me?”
“Call me Twilight. Please.”
Flash seemed taken aback. “Well… if you insist… Twilight.” He walked toward the door. “I better get back to the castle and see how Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are.” And he was gone, leaving Twilight alone. And even after her friends came back and the Feel Better Party continued, Twilight just couldn’t forget what happened with Flash Sentry.
A week passed. Twilight was released from the hospital. The first thing she did is go to the castle, get something from her room, and go to a special somepony’s room. She knocked on the door.
Flash Sentry opened it. “Prin—I mean, Twilight. What are you doing here?”
“Well, Shining Armor and Cadence have to go home, so you’ll be leaving soon.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“So, before you leave… would you do something for me?”
“Well, what would you like?”
Twilight showed him the new Daring Do book she’d just gotten. “Will you read for me?”