A Small Issue 3 - A Sight for Sore Eyes

by Lukington17

Chapter 2 - Troublesome Sight

BACK TO THE PRESENT

Twilight sat confused with her friend Rainbow Dash, tired and unfocused. The rainbow-haired pegasus was winking at her funny, and the princess was too preoccupied to pay much attention now, lost in her own thoughts as they sat in the castle lounge. At the far end of the room, Fluttershy and Discord - having passed by to check up on their friends after a dinner out - were sat by the fireplace, enjoying a cup of tea in the warm hearth, and Starlight Glimmer had come downstairs to read at the table with Spike.

“Just try and get some rest, Rainbow. And make sure you take those painkillers Dr Horse gave us.”

“Yes nurse…” Rainbow moaned, tossing two pills into her mouth and taking a swig of water. She was now blinking with both eyes.

“Shall we do something to take your mind off it?” Fluttershy offered.

Rainbow sat upright with a nod and flew over to Fluttershy, who was setting up a game of Scrabble. “Uuugh, it’s better than nothing I suppose.” Twilight sat at her desk as the three played the game, but Rainbow’s winking seemed to stop. Discord stroked his chin pensively, and Fluttershy raced to victory in the game. “Aw man, eggheads win again” Rainbow taunted, turning to Twilight to announce her deteriorating blinking – but as soon as Twilight turned to face her, it started again. “What the hell, Twilight?! Is this some kind of spell from you?”

“No of course it isn’t, Rainbow Dash…perhaps you should get to sleep. Here you go,” Twilight gave her a sleep-mask.

“Actually, princess” Discord butted in, “I think I may have an idea.” Twilight looked at him curiously, but he dragged her to one side and whispered to her. “We’ve seen that before, I’m sure of it…Morse code, dear princess. That is an emergency call from our little friends inside Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh sweet Starswirl!” Twilight gasped, “how could I have not realised?!”

“Lucky for you, I did.” Discord smirked. “Now look: last month I was helping Princess Luna with developing that confounded Zeromac potion of yours. Luckily, I always carry around a small bottle of it with me. I’ll happily go and see what’s going on in there.”

Twilight sighed. “Okay, that seems reasonable. Let’s get-“

“Hey! What are you talking about over there?” Rainbow Dash demanded suddenly, floating over suspiciously.

Twilight blushed, “Um, Discord has very kindly offered to-“

“I have decided to see if I can sort your small issue out from within, little Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped and she frowned at him. “Oh come on, Discord…not again! Can’t you go mess with somepony else for a change?”

Discord smirked, “nopony else is providing me with such an enticing challenge.”

Rainbow’s blinking increased as she began to feel her headache intensifying. “Ugh, FINE! But be quick...and don't mess me around in there!” she demanded, throwing herself onto her bed. Exhausted from her day, she let herself doze off. Discord turned to Twilight and gave her some of the Zeromac to keep, but before he could shrink himself, Twilight stopped him and whispered threateningly to him.

“Hold on a minute, there. We’ll be waiting for you. If I don’t hear anything from you in a few hours, I will personally come in and find you.”

“Relax, Twilight Sparkle. I’m the one who spotted the problem, and I’m the one who’s gonna fix it.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you, Discord.” With that, the draconequus walked over to Rainbow’s bed, and shrunk himself down with the applied potion, immediately out of sight of the princess. Twilight, however, still had the tracking device – which she’d given Fluttershy last time – in the next room. She rushed to get it, and ran back in to see a dot on the device’s display that indicated the miniature Discord was indeed on Rainbow’s body now.

---

Discord’s world around him had changed so rapidly it had sent his head spinning. A crumb on the floor was now the size of a hill; an ant nearby towered over him, the size of an immense plane. He could make out the cellular organisms on the floor around him, dust particles, every little breeze feeling almost like a powerful gush to him. As he prepared to fly up to Rainbow, the ground shook aggressively as he saw Twilight’s immense purple hooves galloping off to one side, rushing out the room. Hmm, I guess she wasn’t too interested to see how things pan out here, he thought. He shrugged and flapped his mismatched wings, soaring high into the sky – in reality climbing a metre or so off the ground – until he was level with the sleeping Rainbow Dash. Staring at her face on its side, snoring loudly, he readied himself. “Well, you impatient little mare…here goes nothing.” As her massive mouth exhaled in his face, he tensed his muscles and soared towards the higher ear, its blue surface eventually dominating his peripheral vision as he neared the entrance. The snores echoed into the recesses of this vast, vast cave, and Discord flew cautiously as gusts of wind were not so quiet. As he began to enter the acoustic meatus - the outer ear’s gateway to the ear canal - he spotted something and flew closer. He was not fully inside the ear; where he stood was still exposed to the harsh currents of the outside air, but he was shadowed by the swooping ear and small hair follicles all around him.

Flying carefully, he noticed two cellular ponies marching up and down in the entrance to the canal up ahead. That’s odd he thought, there never used to be guards stationed this far out. He snuck around them, leaning right up against the wall of the tunnel, feeling Rainbow’s ear wax seeping into his own fur, much to his disgust. As he travelled deeper into the canal, the light of the outside world and instead this semi-artificial light of the surrounding streetlamps became his source of illumination. The highway below him was quiet, not too busy – but the never-ending pipes above him, the ones that transmitted soundwaves to the ear drum – were vibrating with business. As he pressed on, he stopped when he saw figures up ahead. It appeared to be a patrol garrison, complete with a menacing-looking substation of some sort, tapped into the soundwave pipes overhead. A few microponies were talking outside, all wearing hardhats. Were they cellular ponies? Discord leaned in and tried to get a closer look, because the shape of some of them seemed off. Yes! There was also a changeling here…two! But how!? And why is a normal citizen talking to them as if nothing’s extraordinary? Confused, he looked on: they seemed to be monitoring the sounds and conversations that Rainbow’s ears picked up – the electrical station had wires that headed into the eardrum, situated a little bit further down. When the workers went inside, Discord flew down to the window and peered in a window, ignoring the hazard warning signs dotted around.

Inside the building he saw various machinery and equipment, lots of soundwaves being transmitted and earmuffs on every worker. He eventually deduced - from what he could see – that the external sounds were entering this station first - where they would be reviewed - and then sent through to the brain. He could hear some of the sounds himself, being tested and reviewed, and the workers jokingly messed around with them before sending them through to the brain. A comment from Spike outside made its way in and was completely misinterpreted by the workers, as if playing a daft game of Chinese Whispers. The fact that changelings and cellular ponies were working together made Discord extremely suspicious of foul play, and that this poor error was not a one-off mistake. He watched sadly as the misheard comment’s soundwave was readmitted down the pipe, soaring towards City Hall. He watched a while longer, seeing these workers making mistake after mistake after mistake...eventually he concluded that this was a government facility being infiltrated – or so he thought. He inspected the substation from the outside, seeing more and more evidence that this building had been constructed not only temporarily but also very recently and hurriedly. All the wires and pipes tapping into the main soundwave pipes seemed newly-installed and lazily done. He was sure that both this place had not been here before and that any sound control was administered from a department either in the brain or in the Ear Drum. Satisfied with his deductions, he smirked at this new challenge and set about dismantling their pipes and wires. The workers were so slow, they didn’t realise his sabotage until their unit was completely disconnected from the main soundwave pipelines, leaving sparks flying.

---Rainbow jolted in her sleep, feeling a pain in her ear. “Ow!” she moaned, shuffling around in her bed.---

Discord felt the giant pegasus shifting her body; the wind rushed into the canal at changing speeds and caused it to shake slightly. He ventured further in, eventually reaching the district of Brain Central, where City Hall dominates the area’s plaza hub. It was indeed busy here, as numerous cellular ponies were out and about, commuting or socialising, but what he noticed was the heavy number of military personnel in the area now; dozens of Dashies Antibody Army troops stationed around, and several guarding City Hall. In the midst of it all the draconequus meandered into the impressive front-doors of the brain itself, past the two statues he’d seen before, the first of Rainbow Dash herself which labelled her “The Perfect Specimen”; the second, inside the hall, of the Mane 6 embraced and stencilled below "Loyalty Pays Off". He was admitted in on the merit of the receptionist’s records of his previous visits. Asking to see the Mayor, he was escorted to the elevator and presently shot up through the centre of Rainbow’s prefrontal cortex. The doors pinged open and, after passing the oddly-empty secretary's desk, he pushed open the doors, revealing the swooping curves of the Mayor’s Office. To his surprise he realised there was a meeting going on. “Oh I’m terribly sorry, I was looking for the Mayor but it would appear there’s-“

“No no, it’s quite alright.” He was cut off by a young mare, sitting at the head of the table, a lovely pale yellow coat and a fluffy white mane with green eyes, wearing a business suit. “Gentlecolts, will you excuse us please, this is a matter of urgency.” Sure enough, the four stallions sat at the table got up and grumbled as they walked out past Discord – they were each wearing a uniform with a logo that denoted the Eyes. “Please - have a seat, Discord” the Mayor said kindly, once they were alone. As he did so, he could not help but notice that most of the overhead monitors behind the desk – which displayed various parts of Rainbow Dash’s body – were flashing red and beeping to indicate problems or issues of some sort, making the Mayor’s calmness strike him as rather peculiar. Her voice was somewhat high-pitched and she spoke in a rather pronounced accent; she was clearly from a well-off part of town.

“You’ve been expecting me, Mayor-um…?”

“...Dawn Wellwisher, it’s a pleasure. And, while we were expecting a visit, we were not expecting you to come alone.” Discord seemed puzzled so she went on: “About two months ago I was elected Mayor of this fine city, succeeding Action Tremor and winning by a landslide. Whilst everything started off well, I’ll admit that I’m struggling to control things in here. Queen Chrysalis decided, in her 'infinite wisdom', to enter dear Rainbow’s body and cause havoc, unleashing some sort of spell which has so far enslaved about 15% of my citizens - turning them into changelings, can you believe it?! None of us know why she's doing this or what she hopes to achieve, but we were unable to prevent the damage as it happened so fast, and a few of the defence barracks were seized in the stomach and Chesterton. Futile efforts to contact the outside world meant that Dr Horse was unable to diagnose Rainbow’s condition earlier, once I eventually authorised a trip to see him...it would seem there's no evidence to the outside world of the issues in here. So, we adopted Morse Code to reach Twilight Sparkle and ask her help, but it seems you have arrived first.”

Discord took a moment to take the information in. He was mesmerised by the fact that such a calm, sensible individual such as Wellwisher could be the Mayor of a pony like Rainbow Dash; the contrast in their attitudes was astonishing. I wonder if Fluttershy has a rebellious radical controlling her city, he chuckled to himself, before speaking up. “You see, Mayor Wellwisher – I have arrived, but not with Twilight knowing that she is meant to follow. I suppose I should blame myself for that. I offered to enter the city and inspect the ‘damage’, because Twilight took longer to decipher the blinking code than I did – and well, here I am.”

The Mayor looked down. “Oh…” She shifted her papers on the table, “while I don’t doubt your capabilities in restoring some… civility…to things, Twilight is the pony we know is capable of overcoming this dastardly queen.”

Discord cracked his knuckles and smirked. “You haven’t seen me get down to business yet.”

---

Rainbow Dash had woken up with such a throbbing headache and fever; Fluttershy had been concerned for her friend and accompanied the sick pegasus as she stumbled her way back to the hospital. Fluttershy spoke to the reception calmly and Rainbow was admitted to a bed in the ward by Nurse Redheart almost immediately. Rainbow lay in bed, tossing around and unable to sleep – disturbing her neighbouring patient – until the sun began to rise outside the window, and with sleepy eyes Rainbow panted out of exhaustion. A nursing intern did the rounds, checking each bed, and seeing Rainbow’s poor condition she reported it to Nurse Redheart her supervisor, who in turn moved Rainbow Dash to a private room upstairs. “I know it’s nearly daytime, but do your best to rest up. I would offer you a sleeping pill but I believe Dr. Horse has got you on another medicine already.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow sighed.

“Well, I can offer you this mask to-“

“No! Why does everypony think that a sleep-mask is going to help me sleep faster?!” Rainbow cried, then looking apologetic as the unamused matron closed the blinds. “Hehe, uh sorry…I can’t really control myself right now” and with that she tried closing her eyes.

---

Back inside the brain, Discord had set about his attempts to infiltrate the changelings within the community. This had so far proved unsuccessful; whenever he tried to use a spell on the citizen, nothing would happen, leading him to rage. Despite the setbacks, he was persisting with various spells, and Chrysalis – now inside Rainbow’s spleen – overheard two citizens talking about the draconequus they’d spotted near Brain Central. Licking her lips, the changeling queen set a course for Rainbow’s brain.

Meanwhile, the central Optic Nerve thoroughfare was busy and chaotic as usual, but even more so today because a large number of changelings and germs had unleashed their mayhem all along the boulevard leading down to the dominating backdrop of Rainbow’s left eye. This eventually culminated in some of the reckless pests severing the junction at the Optic Nerve Chiasm; for by their stupid play-fight in which they hurled things at each other, a neon sign was thrown with poor aim and crashed into the middle of the road. Sending ripples through the surface, cracks stretched far down the road and a large gash opened up, splitting the Chiasm’s crossroads in two. The entire area was plunged into darkness as the retina - almost as if automatically-activated - seemed to shut down, and the confused microponies within it went into panic mode. With no means of travel between the brain and the eyes themselves now, the entire industrial hub of Rainbow’s eyes went into shutdown and became idle; some changelings ventured into the hastily-abandoned factories. Every organism on the boulevard broke out into panicked fear as well, leaving their cars and rioting, confronting the police and demanding action – the changelings and germs, however, continued their mundane fight and laughed through the chaos.

---

“Uuuum, Nurse Redheart? Did you turn out the lights?” Rainbow looked around confused, unaware that in reality her eyes now appeared darkened and faded. In a panic, she got up and tried to fly around with no vision, feeling for the wall and light switch, but she was unable to rely on other senses and began crashing into various medical instruments, furniture and light fixtures. “Aaaah!” she yelled, and from all the noise the nursing intern eventually ran in, turning on the lights.

“Oooookay…” the intern said, backing out the room slowly and setting off quickly to find Nurse Redheart. Eventually, Nurse Redheart came into the room and addressed Rainbow Dash, who was flying around the well-lit room, banging into things and feeling around aimlessly.

“Nurse Redheart!” Rainbow called out, “why is it so dark?!”

“Rainbow Dash, sit back down and stop fooling around. You know perfectly well that it’s 9 a.m.”

“I can’t see anything…!” The poor pegasus sounded genuinely terrified, but the Nurse shook her head.

“Rainbow Dash, we have seriously-injured patients that I need to tend to. If you’re feeling poorly, get back in your bed and stop destroying all our equipment!” She turned and left the room, whispering to the intern to keep an eye on this ‘troublemaking’ patient. The intern shook with nerves as she watched Rainbow Dash for the next 10 minutes, the young blue mare wrecking things as she tried in vain to return to her bed. The intern decided to speak to her next supervisor, who in turn said to let Rainbow Dash out the clinic if she was going to continue making a mess. After convincing Rainbow Dash to keep still, the intern cautiously approached her and sat her in a wheelchair, rolling her out of the hospital. As they went down a corridor, Dumb-bell – having a check-up in one of the open rooms – spotted them go past.

“Hey, nice going on setting the hospital back, Rainbow Crash!” He called out to her, but despite Rainbow’s shouts back to him, the intern took her all the way outside and found Twilight Sparkle nearby fortuitously.

“Princess Twilight…?” She asked shyly, as Twilight turned to her with a smile. “Your friend is behaving erratically and destructively, so we have decided to remove her from her room for now. Would you be able to escort her back home as she is unfit to drive?”

Rainbow Dash interrupted, “this is ridiculous! I CAN’T SEE! Why aren’t you helping me?!”

The intern tied a blindfold around Rainbow’s eyes for now; her pupils still faded but the pair had now changed to a suspicious pale shade of blue. “If she really can’t see, then perhaps you ought to keep her under close supervision and make sure she wears this to serve as a reminder. There might be an ophthalmologist's in Canterlot or something...”

Twilight seemed a bit taken aback by the suggestion, but Rainbow once again voiced her protests: “Hey! Get that off me, you can’t just make everypony else thi-“ Interrupting her, the intern covered Rainbow Dash’s mouth with her hoof and nervously laughed to Twilight – then said a quick ‘thanks’ and ran back inside the building.

“Well, she was helpful…” Twilight said, as Rainbow gasped for air.

“She just covered my mouth like she wanted to ignore the truth!” She protested, as Twilight offered the blindfolded mare some consolation.

“That’s ridiculous, yes – but it’s not the end of the world. I’ll take care of you, Rainbow Dash; we’ll take you to the specialist and have you back to normal in no time!” Rainbow smiled at this as the two headed off.

---

“It’s the end of the world! We’re doomed!” The wingbase was as chaotic as the Optic Nerve was, as the City of Rainbow Dash’s plaza located in the muscular wingbase of the pegasus’ wings had been thrown into bedlam. Normally, the wings were operated by a vast number of athletic employees who worked on bicycles to propel the giant wings, like some kind of Renaissance contraption. The bicycles, lined up and connected in chains, were wired up to the immense wing-bones and muscles overhead and all around, and by the movement of the cycles they generated the power to flap the wings. The cyclists would work with giant monitors which were connected to the offices in Brain Central, who broadcast live feeds of the eyes’ views; officers here would instruct the cyclists on setting the speed and direction by coordinating the eyes with the wing movements. That was for a normal day. Right now, with no way of relaying to the Department of Vision, the only thing that the Wing Department were receiving were orders from the Brain to fly, in no particular direction. Since the authority of the Brain’s central offices was total, they had no option but to follow the orders even if it made little sense.

This conflict was obvious to the head offices in the Brain, but such was the confusion caused by Rainbow’s loss of sight that there were simply too many issues to resolve at once. To make matters worse, Rainbow’s eyes provided a source of natural light throughout the body, and a pale blue hue now engulfed the area. The malfunctioning of the eyes meant that the City had to switch to auxiliary power supplies from the streetlights, not normally used much in daytime in an effort to conserve energy. Mayor Wellwisher was suffering from a breakdown, unable to cope with the stress her city was under – and her council were doing their best to calm her down when red lights flashed up on the monitors in the Optical Borough yet again. “What next?” a councilmare asked, “and where has that Discord fellow gone?” Another stallion lamented that things would not have got so bad if Twilight had come instead. The news reporter loudly exclaimed on a screen in the office that the Optical Borough had become an ugly scene, as the DAA and police were now trying to battle the changelings and germs on the Lacribrosa Bridge – one of the most vulnerable sections of the Optic highway. This was met by a universal groan among the debating city officials, while the Mayor buried her face in her hooves, symbolic because her host literally could not face reality either.

---

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were walking through the morning market in Ponyville. Rainbow - usually accustomed to hovering above her friends - had dumped the wheelchair, but walked slowly under Twilight’s direction now. As her alicorn friend described all the sights, they purchased some goods and souvenirs, occasionally having to explain to locals the reason for their famed resident flying-ace sporting a blindfold that morning! They had been particularly excited by a Daring Do comics stall, spending ages there as Twilight had to read out the blurbs to poor Rainbow. Eventually they came to the Ponyville librarian’s stall, and Rainbow groaned loudly as Twilight immersed herself in a discussion about the Canterlot Cantabiles with the librarian. “Ugh, so boring…” Rainbow muttered to herself, when all of a sudden she picked up an appetising scent wafting through her nostrils. “Mmm, what is that smell?” Rainbow walked around slowly, feeling around for the sides of the market stalls, as passers-by shouted at her to watch where she was going! Finally she arrived at the source of the aromas, a food stand set up by Saffron Masala. Rainbow began feeling around some of the items on the display.

Saffron raised a ladle of curried sauce: “Would you care to try our new-“

“Hot dogs, awesome!” The blindfolded Rainbow cried happily, raising up to her mouth an extremely hot pepper from a plateful.

Saffron tried to stop her, “Wait! That’s-“ But it was too late. Rainbow tilted her head back and bit into the spicy chilli pepper with a CHOMP, immediately scrunching at the evidently-wrong texture for a hot dog with a pained gulp.

A few marketgoers stopped and watched as the rainbow-maned pegasus started to go red in the face, beads of sweat dripping down her head and neck now as she tried to contain herself. She couldn't keep it in any longer, and yelled out: “Yyeeeeeeoooooooooooooww!” Flying around like a lunatic, she screamed and grabbed her tongue in pain, flying up into the clear sky to avoid bumping into anything else. “Waaaaaterrrr!”

---

A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER

The stomach’s Police detachment had received notification of an incoming morsel from the Mouth and the the Border authorities were ready. Citizens were ushered off the beach by a loud klaxon that indicated Rainbow was about to eat; this was the second warning after the primary method of public alerting via stomach rumbles, similar to the thunder of an impending storm. Some enthusiastic witnesses waited behind the designated lines, eager to watch the newest arrival into the city. Sure enough, a giant GULP was heard from above and the stomach Breakdown teams powered up their boats. Tumbling down the throat came a relatively-small chewed-up bolus, dark red in colour; it plummeted into the vast lake and sent a wave hurtling towards the beach and harbour. This wave died down to the point of harmlessness by the time it reached the purified waters of the public beach, but from the surface in the distance arose the new arrival. The Breakdown and Border-control officials set off from their jetties, reaching it and disembarking onto its soaked surface. However, upon stepping on it, they burnt their feet and were quick to retreat; almost as if on cue the food caught fire - a fire which seemed both artificial and somehow natural, almost moving with the intent of a sentient being. It gracefully licked the sides of the food and spread to the surface of the acidic waters, gliding over it towards some enormous pills nearby, still floating from earlier but in advanced breakdown process. The fire surrounded the painkillers – which were the size of vast, immense tanker ships – and engulfed them in flames. “Those pills had been disembarked already, right…?” one of the border officers asked nervously, but before they could think, the fire spread to their boats, and they abandoned ship and jumped into the acidic waters in fear, swimming to shore quickly on account of the corrosive nature of the stomach this far out.

The heatwave caused by the fire swept over the harbour and engulfed all the citizens in intense hotness. All around the stomach and throat, the temperatures rose dramatically as indeed the heatwave spread up the spine and nervous systems, heading towards the brain. Various departments did their best to respond: the Staff in the sweat glands tried their hardest to concentrate and filter the heat out in giant transitory reservoirs (that came out as simple beads of sweat to the outside eye); the Wings Department received orders from the brain as Rainbow flew around in a state of discomfort, albeit aimlessly once more; the Rainbow Dash Fire Dpt. - one of the chief contingents of Rainbow’s immune system - were sent out all across the city to try and put out any spreading fires, starting at the ignition point in the stomach. Discord, strolling casually in a Brain Central square after feeling like his efforts were proving useless, was eventually overcome by the heat as it reached the square. As he looked around, he was surprised to notice what appeared to be the underside of a carapace hovering ghostly under the surface of Rainbow's skin up above. I wonder if Twilight can see that, he wondered, still unsure why exactly a changeling feature should be manifesting here. His attention turned back to the heat; several other citizens were so swamped with sweltering temperature that they were compelled to de-clothe themselves gradually. Discord tried to see the bright side, and gave himself a humorously-sunburnt red hue as he and the other microorganisms felt weighed down by heat. As nearby ponies groaned and mumbled at his efforts, changelings trudged past in a regimented march, carrying construction equipment. Discord observed some molten carapace shell on the street, presumably damaged by a fire outbreak. What could they be building in here? Hot and bothered, he slumped on a bench but soon felt a shadow loom over him.

“Well, well, well” came a familiar voice. “If you can’t stand the heat…get out of my town!” Discord looked up to see Queen Chrysalis conjuring up something with her horn, and presently his entire serpent-like body was entangled in ropes. She had two microponies either side of her, gazing in a sort of dead stare outwards as if zombified. They proceeded to lift him up as he wriggled in his ropes.

“Oh let me guess…” Discord said. “Mind control within another pony’s mind? How ingenious...”

"You ignorant fool." Chrysalis was not amused by his sarcastic appraisal, and addressed her servants: “Take him to the CIDF,” waving him away as if he were another insignificant prisoner. Of course, she was quietly delighted that her biggest threat had been neutralised…for now.

Discord was carried into the compound known by citizens as the 'Correctional Institute and Detention Facilities' – a collection of large grey and imposing buildings - and he was led through foreboding gates marked 'City of Rainbow Dash Correctional Institute' by a large sign. Germs and convicts jeered at him as he was dragged in and thrown into a cell unceremoniously. Genuinely distraught and upset to have let Twilight down, he sat in silence unable to move his tied wings or hands at that moment.

The fire’s heat, meanwhile, continued spreading beyond the brain, heading towards the eyes and eventually reaching the Optic Nerve’s Chiasm, the shattered junction which construction workers and RDFD officials had been working hard to rebuild, and even onto the Lacribrosa Bridge where a fight was still taking place. The concentration of organisms in this space caused the heat to spark a fire near a construction vegetable oil-tanker, and sure enough all the junction was cracked and went up in flames again. “Oh, come on!” The workers all exclaimed and moaned, in a similar manner to how Rainbow herself would say so. This fire in turn reached the entire Optical Borough surrounding this thoroughfare. Anticipating this, the RDFD had been ready in this district and had put out most of the fire with a huge amount of water. The water was then transferred and directed down streams towards the tear-ducts and released (hence demonstrating why one’s eyes water after they eat something hot or spicy). With this gush of water heading out the body, some of the changelings and citizens were washed away out of the body - but, unable to tell the difference, the RDFD were ordered not to do anything drastic by way of rescue attempts. Unfortunately, the fight on the Lacribrosa Bridge had carried on onto the streets here, with numerous germs and changeling citizens attacking the police and military personnel. As the bridge was slowly engulfed in a bed of flames, coupled with a stray military rocket launcher misfire, it collapsed. The bridge fell into the river by the Lacrimal Glands Plant - where the tears were made - and the fire died away. However, this collapse's impact also triggered an electricity blackout in the plant substation, and the resulting surge of electricity throughout the city plunged it into darkness. As citizens everywhere panicked and ran around in search of a light source, the germs and remaining changelings - using their luminous bodies for light - were able to capitalise and gain the upper hand on the troubled and confused microponies.