A blind perspective

by Light Heart101

A Cooking Accident.

Pinkie Pie had her class going full force today. She decided to have a baking challenge to get the students to be creative and try new ideas. She promised that the student with the best cupcakes would be allowed to try her new recipe. She was keeping it a secret, but just between us, it's fresh morning supreme. It's an apple muffin with a maple filling topped with caramel frosting. Sounds good, doesn't it?

Pinkie Pie started thinking to herself as she watched the kids work. "I wish that the other girls weren't busy with their own classes. It's going to be so hard to pick the best cupcakes without them. Well, at least Fluttershy will help me find the best one. More cupcakes for us!"

The kitchen was filled with many unique smells. One student was making chocolate and strawberry cupcakes. Another one was trying to blend mango and grapefruit together. Pinkie had to stop Smolder from trying to mix rubies and emeralds in a blender.

Pinkie gave her a smile as she tried to help her. "I think it's a great idea, but I think it'll break the blender. You might want to try a different approach. Maybe you should use a pestle and mortar to grind them up."

As Pinkie dashed to the other side of the room to help a pony who had spilled blueberries all over the floor, Sandbar leaned over to Silverstream. "Hey, what are you working on?"

Silverstream was digging through the cabinet trying to find something. "I'm calling it the worldwide chocolate blast surprise! I'm trying to use an ingredient from every country that I know about, but I'm having trouble finding something from the dragon lands. I don't want to use diamonds because I don't like the taste."

Sandbar chuckled as he looked through his own ingredients. "I guess gemstones are more of a dragon thing. Don't they have fire breath berries? I think the chocolate and the Griffin milk should help cool it down."

Silverstream's eyes rose with excitement. "Thank you! It's perfect!"

She quickly grabbed the berries and started to mix them into the batter. As she looked into it she noticed it starting to bubble and glow red. An unnatural heat was emanating from this glob. It smelled like smoke and hot peppers.

While Sandbar and Silverstream stared at this in fear, Pinkie Pie jumped over to see how they were doing. "How are my baking friends doing over here?" Her singing voice suddenly stopped as the saw the glowing batter starting to rise in the bowl. "Oh dear!"

Silverstream looked nervously as the batter started to make one big bubble. "Did I do something wrong?"

Pinkie looked at her with a nervous smile. "You didn't happen to mix fire breath berries with Griffin milk and Saddle Arabian chocolate did you?"

Silverstream slowly scratched her head as she gave a nervous chuckle. "Maybe?"

Pinkie Pie just smiled and patted Silverstream's head. "Just wondering. Every pony duck!" Pinkie screamed as she pulled Silver under the counter.

All of the students took a quick look to where Pinkie was to see the growing bubble at Silverstream's station before quickly diving behind the counters. As everybody covered their faces they all heard the door open.

"Um, is any pony here?"

Suddenly a loud explosion erupted from the bubble, splattering the room with it's contents. As everyone got up they smelled the smoke left from the explosion. The smell was irritating and made some of the students cough uncontrollably. The ceiling and walls were all coated with a dark red bubbling mess of batter. As the ringing in everyone's ears wore off the heard someone screaming.

Pinkie Pie was the first to notice who it was. "Fluttershy!"

Everyone turned to the door to see Fluttershy partly coated in the same batter, and covering her eyes in pain. As Pinkie Pie tried to push her hooves away to look at her eyes she could feel the batter burning on her own hooves. She could see the batter covered her chest and whole face. She didn't want to ask her to open her eyes in fear of letting this hot batter in her eyes, if there wasn't any in there already.

As Fluttershy screamed and cried about the pain Twilight ran over from down the hall while the students from the other classes came over to look. "What happened to her?"

Silverstream answered as she started to cry. "W-we were making cupcakes and I used some fire berries. It exploded and got all over her. I-I didn't mean to..."

Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder. "We'll talk about this later. Right now we need to help Fluttershy."

As Twilight started to keep all of the students back Starlight Glimmer ran over. "I heard the noise, what's going on?"

As Twilight and Pinkie Pie picked up Fluttershy, Twilight gave her orders. "We need to go to the hospital! You're in charge! I need you to see if anyone else is hurt and then send them to the hospital. As for everybody else, school will be cut short today. Let the others girls know what happened. If we take her someplace else or if there are any new problems then I'll message you. When the room is clean and everybody is dismissed I want you to join us as soon as possible."

Everyone watched as Fluttershy was carried away by Twilight and Pinkie. They all started asking the same question; What was going to happen to Fluttershy? Starlight wanted to tell them that she would be fine, but she truthfully didn't know.

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Twilight waited with her friends in the Canterlot hospital. The Ponyville hospital told them a few hours ago that Fluttershy would need special treatment that they couldn't provide. Twilight didn't even wait for a goodbye before teleporting them to Canterlot. The ten minute wait for a doctor was painful; the two hour wait to see Fluttershy was even more so. Twilight and Pinkie were happy when the rest of the mane 6 showed up, but it soon resulted in everybody waiting for the same answers.

The waiting room never seemed like a pleasant place. The white walls had a way of making you feel small and helpless. A few paintings hung on the wall. Rarity described them as modern art. No one else seemed to agree. Rainbow even went as far to describe them as random splashes of paints that a baby spilled on a canvas. A small photo on a nearby table with some kids books read "Aren't you glad you're not hurt bad enough to go first?" No one found it funny. Several ponies waited in the room. Some were sick, others hurt, and some were just waiting for their loved ones.

Everybody could feel the pure sense of uncertainty in the room. Twilight was busy trying to go over the odds of what could have medically happened to Fluttershy, even though medicine wasn't her strong suit. Dash looked like she was being tortured by the agonizing wait as she kept looking at the clock and muttering to herself. Rarity was trying to hide her anxiety by reading some of the magazines that were laid out, she even offered a few to Applejack. She turned Rarity down at first, but she found one which looked a little interesting and started going through it. Pinkie looked worse then some of the patients that were coming in. Her mane was already partly deflated. She didn't make any jokes.

Pinkie Pie finally broke the silence as a few tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry girls. If I didn't leave those ingredients out; this mess would never had happened."

Twilight gave Pinkie a small smile to comfort her. "It's not your fault. I don't think any of us knew that someone would make a recipe like that."

Rainbow Dash leaned over to them. "I didn't even know you could make a batter bomb like that. That was totally..."

Everybody gave Dash an evil glare before she could finish her sentence. Dash slowly sat back in her seat. Another 15 minutes passed. The mane six (or five) remained silent.

Finally Dash groaned out of pure boredom. "We've been waiting here forever!"

Rarity sighed and agreed with her friend. "Indeed. It does seem to be taking a long time. I wonder what's taking the doctors so long."

Applejack placed down her country magazine. "Well I'd rather have them take their time than miss something important."

Pinkie Pie started to panic. "What if something's really wrong? What if she's allergic to fire breath berries? Gasp!!! WHAT IF SHE TURNED INTO A DRAGON?"

Twilight carefully shushed her friend. "I doubt she turned into a dragon. There's nothing that can do at the moment."

As everybody was finally settling down Starlight Glimmer finally came in and joined them. "Sorry I'm late. I had to try to calm Silverstream down before leaving. She isn't taking this well. How's Fluttershy?"

Before anyone could answer her a nurse poked her head through the door. "Twilight? Fluttershy is ready to see you and your friends now. Just follow the doctor and he'll explain everything to you."

Starlight sighed in relief as she followed them. "I'm glad I didn't have to wait."

As they walked through the door they were greeted by a stallion. He was a unicorn who had a light blue coat and a white mane. In spite of his white hair he apparently was fairly young and well built. He wore a white lab coat and a light blue collared shirt. His cutie mark was an eye similar to one of a bird.

He shook their hooves as they walked in. "Nice to meet you all. Follow me please and keep to one side of the hall."

Rarity blushed as she shook his hoof. "Of course!"

As he led them through the hallway he started talking to them. "My name is Eagle Eye. I'm Fluttershy's doctor. I'll try to keep this simple so no pony gets confused."

Pinkie Pie quickly asked the question that she really wanted to know. "Did she turn into a dragon?!?"

Eagle Eye looked back and grinned. "I think that's out of my field of expertise. I'm an eye doctor and I specialize in cases like this. The batter did burn her skin a little but it's not serious. There are mainly first degree burns so it's not as bad as you'd think. We are using a burn ointment and rash will fade in a day or two. Now about the hard part. The substance found in her eyes was not only a strong irritant, but it was most likely hot on impact. It resulted in some retinal damage."

Eagle Eye turned to see that most of the main 6 didn't understand. "Forgive me for my technical terminologies, it burned her eyes. Luckily you got her here quickly. If you took any longer it could have been much worse."

He stopped at a different wing of the hospital and asked them to stop for a moment. He sighed before facing them. "Listen, I did all that I could, and I do have high hopes for her. Right now the treatment will require her to have her eyes bandaged for a week so they're not exposed to sunlight. After a week I'll take them off to see how they are doing. There are three scenarios. One, her eyesight will be fully or at least mostly recovered and will be back to normal in a few days. Two, her vision will be faded and that will require therapy, operations, or even glasses. Three, and I hope it doesn't happen; she'll be permanently blind."

Everyone stood in shock. The idea that their friend would never see again didn't set well with them.

Pinkie Pie grabbed the doctor by his coat. "Are you saying she will never see a birthday party, a sonic rainbow, or even us again?!?"

Eagle Eye slowly nodded. "I am hopeful that she'll..."

Applejack stomped on the floor in frustration before he could finish. "You are supposed to be a fancy doctor in a fancy town and all you can give us is a maybe? I thought you were supposed to be a specialist?"

Eagle Eye took a deep breath and turned to her. "There is only so much I can do. There's only so much magic can do. I can't tell you how complex the eye is; let alone the rest of the body. Stuff like this isn't simple. I did what I could, but now the body needs to do the rest. The only thing we can do now is help her recover. We are keeping her here overnight to observe her. I would like to ask one of you to stay the night with her to keep her company. Believe it or not but her chances of recovery are better if we keep her hopes up and make her happy."

As they all started to try to decide who would stay Pinkie Pie stepped forward. "I'll do it! I'd love to help cheer Fluttershy up. Besides, I won't be able to start teaching again until my classroom is cleaned."

Starlight scratched her head. "Yeah, I'm still trying to get the smell out. You wouldn't be able to stand in there for ten seconds before your eyes would start tearing up."

Eagle Eye continued with his instructions. "Okay! Now we are planning on sending her home tomorrow; that way she'll feel more comfortable. I will fill out a prescription for the Ponyville hospital to change the dressing on her bandages. Her family lives in Cloudsdale so this part will fall on you. Don't leave her alone! You will have to be her eyes, so help her with anything that she wouldn't be able to do without help. Don't let her do any heavy lifting or other strenuous activity. When she starts to get her bearings let her walk around but no flying. She can stretch her wings so encourage her to do so. Don't take her to any really loud places. It will most likely scare her. The most important thing to do is to keep her hopes alive. When the mind is in a positive state the body usually follows. I hope that I can trust you all to keep her hopes up."

Twilight looked to her friends who nodded back. "We'll do our best!"

Eagle Eye smiled as he headed to a door. "That's all I ask. She's in here."

The room Fluttershy was in was a lot more comforting than the waiting room. There were tan walls with a pink trim. There were a few chairs and a small couch next to the walls. The floor had pink roses sewn into the carpet. There were three doors, one they walked through, one had a small closet, and one led into a small restroom which matched the other room, save the tile floor. Fluttershy was lying in a hospital bed with tan bed sheets wearing a blue hospital gown. Parts of her coat looked slightly red and white bandages covered her eyes.

She looked a bit scared when the door opened. "W-w-who's there?"

Eagle Eye was quick to answer. "It's doctor Eagle Eye. Where did the nurse go? I told her not to leave."

Fluttershy did her best to sit up without falling off of the bed. "I think she said she was going to get me dinner."

Eagle Eye sighed. "I told her to wait until I got back. I wish these new nurses would listen to me before acting. I'm going to find her, but I brought your friends here. I'll be right back."

As Eagle Eye turned to leave he saw Pinkie Pie pull out her party cannon. She stopped when he quickly motioned to her not to fire it. As he left the others walked up to Fluttershy. Seeing their friend in this condition felt completely wrong. She looked so fragile and helpless just sitting there. How does a pony find the right words to say in a place like this?

Twilight was the first pony to speak. "Hey Fluttershy, it's me, Twilight. How are you feeling?"

Fluttershy tried her best to face her, but only to face Applejack. "Oh! Hi Twilight. I guess my rash stings a bit and then there's the obvious, but otherwise I'm feeling better. Who all is here?"

Everyone sounded off as they went down the line. Everybody tried to sound cheerful and confident, but a part of them had to fake it.

They talked for a few minutes until Fluttershy gasped. "Oh dear! Who's going to feed the animals until I get back?"

Applejack placed a hoof on the bed. "Now don't you go worrying about that! I'll just stop by your place on the way home tonight."

Starlight Glimmer decided to fill her in on rest of the plan that she had worked out. "I can cover your classes until you get better, and we'll all take turns watching you."

Admittedly, they had only planned on what would happen if she'd be in the hospital for a few days. They didn't plan on her being blind for a whole week.

Dash rephrased what Sunset said. "So basically we'll get to hang out with you more."

Slowly Fluttershy leaned forward with a concerned look on her face. "The doctor already told me about my chances. Do you think I'll be able to see again?"

Dash quickly tried to encourage her. "Don't worry about that. You will be fine. The only thing you have to worry about right now is the hospital food."

Fluttershy gave a small grin. "You should know; you've been in hospital enough."

Everyone laughed at her joke as Eagle Eye and a nurse walked in. "Sorry we took so long. Did I miss anything?"

The mane seven chatted for a while. However they had the few hiccups in the conversation. Rarity started to describe a new line she was working on until she remembered the bandages.

Dash ended up talking about the Wonderbolts new routine until she said "If you could have seen...”. When she realized what she said she quickly changed the topic.

Eventually visiting hours were over and everyone except Pinkie Pie left. That night Pinkie Pie had a hard time getting to sleep. It wasn't only the fact that she was trying to sleep in a small couch, but she kept thinking about the accident. She kept tossing and turning as she kept wondering what she could have done different to prevent this accident. If it was any other combination of ingredients then it would have been harmless, and very spicy. She kept having to look at Fluttershy's face with these white, clean bandages covering half of her face. The sight of her kept burning into her mind and increased the guilt that was already weighing her down. If Fluttershy could have seen her she would have seen that her mane was completely deflated at this point.

As she sighed and tried rolling over again she heard Fluttershy's soft voice. "It's not your fault. You know that, right?"

Pinkie sat up and looked at Fluttershy. "I know, but I can't help it. I don't like looking at you like this. I want to help, but I'm clueless right now."

Fluttershy stopped her. "All I want is some pony here. I just want to know that there's someone here to catch me. I'm scared Pinkie. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to be blind."

Pinkie looked at Fluttershy. The bandages kept any tears from escaping, but she could tell from what she could see that Fluttershy was crying. Pinkie tried to think of something she could do to help her friend. Eventually she started to hum her smile song. Fluttershy's whimpers slowly faded as Pinkie hummed her song. After a few minutes Fluttershy finally fell asleep, and soon Pinkie joined her.

Comments

[Artist]

Wow

[TheFlint44]

Poor Fluttershy.

[Flutterprincess]

Dash rephrased what Sunset said. "So basically we'll get to hang out with you more."

Um... sorry but I think you meant "what STARLIGHT said" ^^

Anyway that’s a beautiful story.