Through Crimson Eyes

by Level Dasher

Chapter 57: Year in Review

There’s nothing like the feeling of relief somepony gets when they’ve finally jumped a huge hurdle in their life. After I left the hospital, I spent about a week at home just to get used to feeling ‘normal’ again, despite the end-of-summer weather. It actually felt really weird not being in the hospital; it had essentially been home for the past ten months or so.

I was finally able to go back to school at the start of the new school year. I got to spend time with my classmates again, Miss Turner talked to me quite a bit, and I managed to keep up with the program, despite all my time being away. Although, now that I think about it, I had done a pretty good job keeping up while I was admitted, so I guess it wasn’t too hard. I’m lucky I’m smart… and modest…

Aside from coming back after being gone for a year, returning to school with my cutie mark certainly gained me a fair bit of attention. When I told everypony how I got it, there were mixed reactions: amazement or jealousy over the inclusion of Princess Luna, apologies because of my dad, and generic congratulations were the most common ones. It wouldn’t surprise me if colts and fillies liked the attention when they got their cutie marks, but because of all the stuff that intertwined with how I got mine, it got tiresome pretty quickly… and sometimes upsetting. Fortunately, it kept most of the attention away from my button.

After the two follow-up appointments, the docs took the button out, and I was finally able to go about my usual business. It took a little over a week for the leftover opening to heal up; a gauze pad around it kept the hole from leaking. Other than that, things went pretty smoothly. I went back another two weeks after they removed the button for some confirmation testing— a scan, bloodwork, x-ray, all that stuff. When everything came back normal, the doctors declared me in remission. We went straight to Sugarcube Corner after that.

Starry, Tess and I went back to our usual hanging out together in and out of the schoolyard, it just didn’t include planning crusades anymore. We usually talked about our latest excursions with our talents.

Starry made enough messes that his parents finally turned their basement into a studio for him. He was like a… paradox, I think the word is. He was still a neat freak, but he always seemed to make a mess of things.

I grabbed a few astronomy books from the library and started mapping out the night sky on my own. I watched the sky every night that I could, looking for any patterns I may have missed in the past. That was considered ‘boring chatter,’ so we didn’t go into my research much. I also re-checked the lifespan of red giants— it thrilled me when I confirmed that they lasted a really, really long time.

Tess was the most fun to talk about. Instead of tree sap, like it used to be with the three of us, most of the time her shenanigans ended with power outages. She also pulled the occasional zap on Starry and me— electricity seemed to be connected with her magic somehow.

While I had appreciated the gesture before, I finally asked Tess and Starry to stop dyeing their manes and tails. Now that I was back at home, it just felt kind of unnecessary; I thought it would bring attention to me when I really didn’t want or need it anymore.

It took some time to grow out for the both of them, but eventually Tesla’s silver-and-purple hair came back in. I joked with Tess that I liked her color combo much better than Starry’s straight black hair, but I swore I’d never say so in front of him. Even though he didn’t want to follow in his dad’s hoofsteps, as the son of a royal guard, he was really proud of his colors—he said they reminded him of battle wounds—so I kept my mouth shut.

I asked Brick to stop dyeing his mane, too, and he was totally fine with it. I’m happy to say he didn’t lose the confidence it had given him when he first started doing it. I chatted with him quite a bit, and he kept up his good reputation. Sure, he had his bad days every now and then, but I could usually pick him up again if he needed me to. Our shared losses helped us bond.

While Starry, Tess, and I did get to spend our time together again after we finally established that Starry wasn’t a third wheel, whenever he stepped away from our trio, Tess and I would hear giggles from our classmates. Obviously they considered us an ‘item.’ It was annoying at first, but we finally learned to just drown it out, and they eventually gave it up. That is, until Tess’s birthday came around again…

Right as the school year was ending, about a month before Tesla’s birthday, I started looking for ideas. The light that she made for me had stayed in its special place on our mantelpiece at home. I missed giving her anything for her birthday last year because I was stuck in the hospital, so I wanted this year’s gift to be special. I wanted to make her something myself, like she had for me, but I was never good with my hooves. I tried to think of something that would have some meaning for her instead. I got some unexpected help when I ran an errand for Mom on the way home from school one day.

I had gone to see the local alchemist, Topaz Moon, to pick up some energy crystals. Mom always had a thing for alternative energy, so she was thrilled when Topaz set up shop. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask her for some ideas; even if she was selling forms of alternative energy, I had a feeling she’d have a good grasp of electricity, too. I got a lot more help than I anticipated.

Topaz told me that many of her crystals conducted electricity, not just magical energy. At first, I didn’t think that would help me much— until I spotted a crystal that matched Tesla’s eyes perfectly on Topaz’s shelf. When I asked her about it, she told me I’d hit the jackpot of conductive crystals— it turned out to be copper. I never would have thought of copper as a crystal.

I asked Topaz if there was something I could do with the crystal that would make a cool birthday gift. I thought that just giving Tess an energy crystal would be weird—it would’ve been like giving her a battery—even if it did match her eyes. When I said that out loud, Topaz mentioned something I hadn’t even thought of— a lot of stallions tended to get their marefriends jewelry that matched their eyes. I could have the copper shaped into something. I’d never seen copper at the jewelry store, though.

The problem was that I seemed to recall Tess not being fond of jewelry; our school lesson on the Changeling Invasion a year or two ago had a small section on the wedding itself, and Tess remarked how ridiculous the rings looked on the Prince and Princess’s horns. Then again, it’s not like this was gold. Jewelry made out of copper would not only match Tess’s eyes, but be related to her talent— it would have meant something if I used it that way…

…But I was still wary about giving Tess jewelry. If I was going to give her something, it had to be just the right thing. Necklaces and bracelets were really common among mares in town, but I wasn’t sure if Tess would feel comfortable wearing something like that. I brainstormed with Topaz a bit, and when I mentioned Tess’s full name, Tesla Coil, Topaz said she had an idea.

Since my mother was a regular customer, Topaz said she’d do something special for me. She asked what my mother needed for that day, and we made the necessary transaction. Then she told me to come back in about a week, and she ushered me out. I wondered what she had planned, but she sounded confident. My mother always had great things to say about Topaz and her work, so I had a feeling whatever she had in mind would at least be worth a try.

It turned out to be perfect.

It was a tail coil. Since she had some sculpting prowess, Topaz shaped it out of the copper herself. It would wrap around the base of Tesla’s tail. It wasn’t too big, so it could be discreet, and it wouldn’t shine in everypony’s faces, at least from the front. I could tell it would be better than a gold necklace for Tess. I paid Topaz more for the labor of creating the coil than the actual crystal, and she even gave me a discount on that. I thanked her profusely, went home and wrapped up the coil, then waited another week for Tesla’s birthday to come.

Well, I had told Topaz it had to be just right, and it most definitely was. Just like she had done for me with her neon light, I gave Tess the copper coil in private. What I had thought about her opinion of jewelry was wrong— Tess absolutely loved it, so much so that she flashed it to everypony. I didn’t stop hearing about it for weeks, and neither did anypony else, especially the ponies that almost got shocked, literally. Honestly, I don’t think Tess has taken it off since I gave it to her.

Mom went back to teaching at the Arts Center with a normal schedule. One day after school, I went there with Tess, and I properly introduced her to Center Stage. It ended with much less drama than the first time I met her. Tess and I even went to a recital, and I had to get her to sit on her tail so her coil wouldn’t fly off.

Life seemed to be back to normal, or at least what I would consider normal. I still checked in with my cardiologists like I usually did, but now I had to meet with the oncologists every so often, too. Other than that, everything seemed just fine. The only thing that bummed me out was that I didn’t see or hear from Princess Luna for a little while, so I eventually took the initiative to remedy that.

It was the best letter I ever wrote. And the easiest, since I always kept my favorite picture on my desk for inspiration.

END ACT I

Author's Note:

I want to thank the amazing Ayemel for her wonderful artwork! This one was finished quite a while ago, but I couldn't reveal it until now! If you click on the picture, it will lead you to my Google Drive, where you can zoom in on it so you can see all of the detail that was put into this piece. I highly recommend doing so.

Also, a shout-out to Topaz Moon for letting me use her OC. Thanks, Topaz!

Comments

[Dreams of Ponies]

First, that picture is adorable. Second, Tesla is now a walking magnet/portable charger/lightning rod.

Aside from that, it's a good thing Crimson didn't procrastinate like most stallions and wait until the last minute.