The Crystal War Book I: A Spark to Light the Dark

by NatureSpark

Ch.13 Hot Tea & Gem Stones

~Chapter 13: Hot Tea & Gem Stones~

“Spark, psst, Spark…Hey Spark!” The whispering in his ear made Spark shoot off of the hard floor, which only served to hurt his already very sore body. The unicorn didn’t think he would ever get used to sleeping the ground. If only he were a pegasus, Spark thought, then he could just pack around a cloud to sleep on.

“I’m up. I’m up. What time is it?” Spark asked. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and blinked in the darkness of the room. “The sun hasn’t started rising yet.”

“No it hasn’t, but you did say that you wanted to get an early start, right?” Spark heard Downpour’s voice and squinted, so that he could make out the shape of his stocky friend in the dim light that managed to peek through the curtains of the single window.

“I guess I did,” Spark yawned as he got to his hooves and stretched his legs as far as he could without stepping on anypony. “Who else is awake?” He said it just loud enough that his friends would be able to hear him if they were already up, but not so loud that he would wake any of them. Until the chariot was working there was no reason for anypony else to forfeit their sleeping time.

“Yeah, I’m up.” That was Draft’s voice, but in the darkness Spark couldn’t see where the pegasus was.

“Alright, the three of us should go see what we can do to fix up the chariot,” Spark mumbled sleepily. He started walking to the door, his horn glowing faintly so that he could see where he was stepping. On the way out, the stallions each grabbed their cloaks, figuring that it would be another dreary day of cold and rain in Canterlot. “Hopefully a blacksmith’s shop will open soon.”

The three ponies exited the bedroom and walked down the nearly empty hallways of the hospital. The only other pony they saw was a janitor sweeping away trash and dirt with an old push broom. It was quiet at such an early hour and their hoofsteps sounded like the beating of drums to Spark. When they opened the front doors and stepped out in to the early morning air, the tired unicorn could feel the chill of winter on his hide.

“By the time we’re heading north, winter will be starting,” Draft said. The pegasus began to shiver and pulled his cloak tighter as he spoke. “It’s going to be damn cold in the Crystal Kingdom.”

“Yup, that’s why we had to get plenty of warm clothes,” Spark said, ignoring his friend’s minor misnomer as he and the other two stallions walked up to the beaten up chariot. Spark used his magic to pull out his pouch of herbs and began rolling some up with practiced ease. “First order of business, let’s get high. Then we can worry about fixing this baby up.”

“Sounds like a good plan if I’ve ever heard one,” Downpour replied, walking around the side of the chariot and inspecting it while he talked. “So this thing actually flies, does it?”

“Yeah, it’s really something. I pulled it around for an entire day,” Draft responded. He got on the ground and pointed out the enchanted gems to his brother. “These are what do most of the work, but when we first entered the city, well, we came in pretty hot and cracked one. I tested her out and she still flies, but I wouldn’t trust the spell to hold under the stress of passengers or long distance flights.”

“Which is exactly what I need it for,” Spark mused. “So if we can’t get it fixed, then I can’t go anywhere.”

“Exactly,” Draft agreed. The young pegasus pointed to another part of the craft next. “We also bent up one of the wheels pretty badly and the harness rigging needs some more work, especially if Strata is going to be flying it.” Spark took a long drag off of the joint and exhaled, the cloud of smoke looking even bigger when it mixed with the water vapors in the cold air. He took another after that and then passed it over to Downpour.

“Alright, we’ll split up and look for parts,” Spark stated. “Draft, you can find us a new wheel frame.” The pegasus yawned and nodded his head. “Downpour, because you have such an, uh… intimate knowledge of Strata’s body, why don’t you try to find a rigging that will fit her well. I’ll try to find us a new enchanted gem that will work. I think I remember Axel saying something about getting hers from Canterlot, so I should be able to find something. What one needs replaced?”

“I believe it’s the balance gem, an amethyst, judging from the way she rocked around when I was flying with her last. Pretty important if you don’t feel like falling out to your death,” Draft explained with a dry laugh.

“Yeah, I’d like to avoid that, if at all possible,” Spark said as he took the joint, which had gone through the full rotation, and puffed on it a few more times. “Alright, you two can finish this. I’m going to get going, because I have to walk and it will take me longer to find a store.” He passed the joint back to the Downpour and started walking down the street, his high just starting to really set in.

The sun was beginning to show its light over the mountain city, but Spark couldn’t feel any warmth yet. The only thing that kept him from freezing was walking all around the city, looking for a place to buy enchanted gems. He had only found one shop that looked promising so far, but it didn’t open for another hour, so he had some time to kill. He decided to see if the princesses would see him. Spark had a few questions about his father that Celestia might be able to answer.

The unicorn took his time and walked at a casual pace, admiring the more upper-class parts of the city as he passed by. They were nothing like the streets he had been lost in when he saved the pegasus mare the day before. Here the buildings looked well maintained and the streets were kept relatively free of debris, at least the parts of them that he could see without his glasses were. The stores around him were all over priced, but besides that, the inner part of the city seemed like it was more than livable.

Spark made it to the castles outer walls and began to walk up the ornate pathway. There were beautiful stone statues that he hadn’t noticed when he had walked it while hung over and the path was lined with large shrubs as well, many of them clipped into the shapes of different animals. It was truly a work of art, but then again, so was the entirety of the castle and grounds surrounding it.

Guards stopped him at the gate just as they had the last time, but thankfully one of them recognized Spark from his previous visit and allowed him through the entrance. Inside, he was met by a unicorn butler and escorted to the athenaeum where he was greeted by the sight of Princess Celestia, sitting at a table and reading from a large, very old looking book. She looked up when he entered and smiled when her eyes met his.

“Ah, Nature Spark. How nice to see you before you leave,” Celestia’s sweet voice called out upon seeing him. She marked her place in the book and closed it. “How are you today?”

“I am doing fine, my princess,” Spark replied. He dipped into a low bow as he answered, but glanced up when he heard giggling coming from the princess.

“You don’t have to do that. We aren’t in the courts, so there’s no need to be formal. If there was I’d be-” She took a deep breath and put on a stoic expression. “TALKING WITH YOU LIKE THIS!” Celestia finished. Her royal voice was just as loud and obnoxious as Spark remembered, not that he would dare to tell her that.

“As you wish, Princess Celestia,” Spark said with a hint of a grin. He stood back up and walked over to her table. “May I take a seat and speak with you for a moment.” Celestia nodded her head and Spark sat down on the opposite side of the table, so that they could face each other. “I came here to see if you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions I had about my father and the work he did for you.” The unicorn hoped that he wasn’t being an inconvenience to the princess, but her expression was soft and unchanged, as if she had known what he came to talk about already. Which she probably had, Spark thought.

“I will answer what I can, Nature Spark, but there are certain aspects of your father’s work that I will not discuss,” Celestia replied. She levitated a cup of tea, which Spark hadn’t noticed before, to her lips and took a sip. “Before we start, would you care for a cup of tea? I find a cup of dragonwell green tea always helps vitalize me in the morning.”

“I would love a cup of tea, actually,” Spark told her. The princess called for the butler to bring another cup for her guest and a few minutes later an earth pony brought one to the table. The stallion set the cup in front of Spark and poured some steaming tea into it before he left them to their conversation. “Thank you very much princess,” Spark said as he blew on the cup and then brought it to his lips to take a sip. The tea was wonderful. It had a very sweet taste, but not over powering in flavor. Spark only wished that he could have afforded tea so nice. Princess Celestia seemed to notice his awed expression as he set his cup down.

“Do you like it?” the alicorn asked him. “It is one of my most favorite types.” She took another sip from her own cup and then set it on the table.

“Yes, I think that it is the best tea I have ever had,” Spark replied. Celestia had been right, it did help to invigorate Spark and when the stallion had finished drinking his cup, he felt awake and rejuvenated. The unicorn would definitely have to find a place to get some of that tea for himself, after he was done with his travels of course.

“Now, about your father,” Celestia said a moment later. “Where would you like to start?” She sat there patiently for a short time, while Spark mulled over her question. Spark should have thought about what he wanted to know, before he talked to the princess, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that anymore.
“Well, let’s start with this,” Spark said as he levitated his father’s old dagger out of his bags. “My mother told me that this was his, from when he used to serve you.” He set it down on the table before her. “Where did he get it? And I know this sounds silly, but did he ever give it a, um, a name?” The unicorn grinned awkwardly and thought about how stupid his question must have sounded to the princess. Celestia chuckled quietly and answered him to the best of her ability.

“All of the guards are given hoof crafted weapons. His came from one of the best blacksmiths that I have ever met, Vulcan Firehammer,” the alicorn explained. “Vulcan had already retired by the time your father needed a weapon, but somehow Oaken Field managed to convince the old blacksmith to forge one last blade.” She paused to take a sip of her tea before continuing. “While most daggers are equipped with an enchanted gem that keeps the blade sharp or allow it to be launched with magic, his was a little different.” Spark was literally on the edge of his seat as she stopped to take another drink. “This blade that you have is enchanted to not only stay sharpened, but also absorb poisons and hold them. The next time it pierces flesh it will release those poisons. It is a very deadly weapon, which must be wielded with great care.”

“I had no idea,” Spark gasped. The stallion was stunned by her revelation. The dagger was a weapon fit for an assassin, but that couldn’t have been what Spark’s father had used it for. Oaken Field had been such a gentle stallion, at least, that was how Spark remembered him. “Why would my father need this type of enchantment on his dagger?”

“It helped with his work and I cannot say more on the matter,” Celestia responded firmly. The unicorn could hear minor tension in her voice, so he did not press the matter further. Instead, he sipped on his tea while she continued to speak. “I can however, tell you that he called it Libra.”

“Libra.” Spark uttered the word softly and the dagger’s gem seemed to swim with dormant energy in response. “As fitting of a name as any I suppose.” He levitated it off of the table and back into his saddle bags a moment later. “Is there anything else that you can tell me about my father? I would like to learn all that I can.”

“I’m sure that you will find out quite a bit during your travels, Nature Spark, and that is the way it should be,” Celestia replied, “but keep in mind that your father was only a pony. There are parts of his history you may not agree with, but I want you to remember that Oaken Field was a courageous stallion, one who would do anything to save the country he cared about and protect the family he loved.” Her gaze softened as she finished. “Every pony has the potential for good and evil, it is those of us who are able to keep the two in balance that can change the world the most, Nature Spark.” They were both silent for what seemed to Spark like hours, but in reality was more like a few minutes, before the unicorn got to his hooves and bowed to the princess.

“Thank you for speaking with me, Princess Celestia. I have learned a great deal about my father from you,” Spark said as he stood up straight and wrapped his bags in the green glow of his magic, strapping them down tightly to his sides. “I have to be going though and hopefully we see each other again, after I have sorted out this crisis.”

“I would like that very much,” the princess replied. She gave a slight nod of her head, which was as close to returning a bow as the alicorn would ever come. “Good luck, Nature Spark. The weight of Equestria is on you and your friends.”

Spark bowed once more to her before he left, saying, “I will do my best princess.” The stallion walked down the halls, lost in thought and barely registering the servant who led him back towards the front gates of the castle. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his late father and the fate of the country. Spark stumbled briefly in the doorway before snapping out of his daydreams in time to catch himself. He needed to find a place to buy enchanted gems before going back to the hospital, so that was the next stop he planned on making.

By the time Spark had found the enchanted gem store again, it had already been open for a while. The shop didn’t seem very busy though, so the unicorn didn’t think that it would take long to purchase what he needed. Upon entering, he noticed display cases with gems of all varieties placed about the room. Most of them were already infused with certain spells, but there was a sign letting customers know that the owner would specially craft gems for an extra fee. Spark made his way to the counter, where an old unicorn stallion was sitting, with a book floating in front of his face. Spark waited in front of the counter for a few seconds, but it didn’t appear as if the wrinkled blue stallion had noticed him.

“Ahem, excuse me sir,” Spark said. The shopkeeper didn’t acknowledge him, so he tried asking at a higher volume, in case the stallion was hard of hearing. “Sir, I’d like to know if you have a particular gem!” The shopkeeper jumped in surprise, dropping his book and knocking over a half dozen gems in the process. Spark lifted them back onto the table with his magic and apologized to the stallion. “Sorry about startling you like that. I was just wondering if you had a certain type of enchanted gem.”

“Oh, it’s entirely my fault. If I was actually watching my shop this wouldn’t have happened,” the old stallion replied. He began to chuckle, a low, friendly sound that came deep from his gut. Spark couldn’t help but to smile at the sound. “Now, what kind of gem do you need?”

“I’m looking for an amethyst that’s been enchanted to balance a cart full of passengers,” Spark explained. “It’s for my chariot and I need it today.” The older stallion’s eyes lit up as his customer spoke.

“You wouldn’t happen to know Alexia, would you?” the shopkeeper asked him.

“Axel? Yes I do,” Spark replied with mild confusion. “Why do you ask?” The unicorn figured that Axel must have bought her gems from the same store and he was proven right.

“Don’t tell me she already broke the last one I sold her,” the old stallion sighed. “I swear to Celestia that girl is too spirited for her own good sometimes.” The shopkeeper chuckled to himself and turned around. He started walking away and beckoned for Spark to follow him.

“Well, actually, sir, it was my fault that the gem broke,” Spark told him. “She gave us one of her carts and we crashed it pretty good coming in to the city.” He gave a sheepish smile, to which the older stallion answered with another chuckle.

“What in the hay did you hit to break an amethyst like that?” the shopkeeper questioned. Spark wasn’t sure if he should tell anypony about their flying chariot, but they had flown right into Canterlot and this old stallion did sell Axel the original stone, he decided that it couldn’t hurt to tell.

“We, uh, hit the ground,” Spark mumbled in embarrassment. The blue stallion was speechless for a few minutes and stood there stroking his short grey beard. Finally, he looked at Spark with a large grin.

“She actually did it, didn’t she? Haha, I can’t believe she built her father’s sky chariot!” the shopkeeper exclaimed. His horn lit up blue and an amethyst floated over to him from one of the shelves. “Here you go, son. I had a few extras, because I expected this to happen.” He handed the gem to Spark, who tucked it safely in his saddle bags. “In fact, why don’t you take two more and extras to replace the other gems?” He floated more stones over, laughing the whole time and Spark placed them next to the amethyst in his saddlebags.

“I’m not sure I can afford all of these though,” Spark explained. They probably cost a pretty bit and the young stallion knew he didn’t have the funds to waste on spares.

“Tell you what, son. Just pay me for the first one,” the shopkeeper told him. Spark was very surprised to hear him say that. “The others I’ll give to you, on one condition… Tell Axel, the next time you see her, that I want a free flying chariot.” The old man had another huge smile on his face. “Can you imagine the kind of mares I could get if I pay some pegasus to fly me around?” He broke into a fit of laughter soon after speaking.

“Yeah, will do,” Spark replied. Mother of Luna, the old man’s a pervert, he reasoned. Spark had to suppress a laugh at the thought. “Thank you so much for your generosity sir,” Spark said as he handed the stallion some bits for the amethyst.

“Don’t mention it,” the shopkeeper beamed. His smile vanished an instant later though. “No seriously, don’t mention it. It won’t help business if ponies think I give away my wares for free.” The old man’s face lit back up with a smile as he added, “You have a good day now.”

“Will do,” Spark replied as he left the shop, with more gems than he knew what to do with. The unicorn wondered how successful Downpour and Draft had been in their endeavors. “I bet those two didn’t make out as well as I did.” He trotted down the road with a smile on his face. It was funny how one act of kindness could make the day seem brighter.

Spark’s head was still full of happy thoughts and he had a bounce in his step when he arrived back to the chariot, where both of his friends were already waiting. Downpour was working on the harness, while Draft was lying on his back underneath the vehicle. “What’s got you so peppy today, Spark?” Downpour asked. The bluish pegasus was the first to see him arrive, but when he heard his brother talking, Draft wriggled himself out from under the chariot.

“I got us a new balance amethyst and then some,” Spark smirked. The brothers both shot him incredulous looks, until he floated out the six stones to show them.

“Damn, Spark. How did you manage that?” the older pegasus asked. “Did you rob an old mare or something?” Downpour grabbed half of the gems as he questioned his friend and his brother took the other half.

“Seriously, we don’t have money to be blowing on extra gems right now,” Draft lectured. The younger pegasus shook his head in disappointment, but Spark knew how to shut him up.

“Aw, don’t worry your pretty little head off,” Spark replied. “I got these for free.” He gave the two brothers a cocky grin and they looked at him with disbelief evident on their faces. “No, really. I met the shopkeeper who sold the first gems to Axel and when he heard that she actually got the flying chariot to work, the old stallion gave me these six for the price of one.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool,” Draft admitted as he took the amethyst and crawled back under the cart to replace the cracked gem.

“What was the shopkeeper’s name?” Downpour asked before he turned back to adjusting the new harness, double checking each of the fasteners as he went.

“You know what, I forgot to ask,” Spark told him and then facehoofed at his own stupidity. “The next time we’re in Canterlot, I’ll have to make sure to visit him again. He also said he wanted me to ask Axel to give him his own flying chariot, so that he can pick up mares.”

“Haha, sounds like my kind of stallion,” Downpour chuckled. The older pegasus stepped back from the harness and examined it. “Well, that should do it. I just have to get Strata out here so I can see how it fits.”

“Where are the others anyway?” Spark asked. He had expected everypony to be up by then, but only the pegasus brothers were outside with him. “Don’t tell me they’re still sleeping.”

“No, they’ve been up for a while now. I think their packing up the rest of our stuff and getting some breakfast ready,” Downpour replied. The stocky pegasus started to walk towards the hospital, but stopped when he heard a muffled voice. “What was that, Draft?”

“I said, I think Star was paying the bill and she wanted me to tell Spark that she has a surprise for him,” Draft said after he had gotten out from under the cart. “Wait up. I’m coming with.”

“What kind of surprise?” Spark’s spark asked. His curiosity was peaked now, as he tried to imagine what the mare had for him.

“She didn’t say, but knowing Star, it’s probably some new spell for you to learn,” Draft replied. Spark mentally kicked himself as he remembered that he hadn’t gotten around to practicing his cloud walking spell that day. The three stallions found Strata and Inferno in the hospital lobby, talking around a stack of pastries as they walked through the front doors.. The smell of warm food made Spark’s mouth water and he snagged a hot cinnamon roll before leaving to find Star.

“How long before we leave from here?” Strata asked before he had walked too far down the hall.

“It shouldn’t be much longer. Downpour just has to get you fitted to the harness and I’m going to see what Star is up to,” Spark called back to her.

“Alright. Let her know that breakfast is ready when you see her,” Strata replied before turning back to the conversation she was having with the red dragon.

“Can do,” Spark answered. The unicorn walked through the halls and made his way to the main desk, where a nurse was busy filling out forms. “Excuse me miss, but I’m looking for my friend. She’s short and black with a white owl for a cutie mark. Have you seen her?” The nurse looked up from her paper work with a slightly annoyed expression as she eyeballed him.

“I believe she’s in the dean’s office,” the mare informed him. “It’s down the hall on your left, then through the doors at the end of the hall. You can’t miss it.” She went back to her paperwork with a huff. Spark forgave her for her rudeness though; he could imagine how much stress came with a job like hers. Hospitals weren’t exactly the easiest places to work in and the things she probably saw on a daily basis would have made him lose his lunch.

“Thank you very much,” Spark said as he walked away.

Spark arrived at the dean’s office doors and was about to knock when they opened up on him. He barely stopped himself from rapping on Star’s head as a result.

“Spark, I was just about to go see if you were back yet,” Star said with a smile. “Please, come in.” She led him into the office and gestured for him to take a seat in one of the brown chairs. “This,” she said, pointing to a middle aged mare with curly orange hair, “is the dean of the hospital, Doctor Suture. She is the one who let us stay here the last few days.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Spark greeted her. The unicorn offered his hoof and Suture shook it, her yellow hide looked soft and her grip felt delicate. Spark assumed that she had been a surgeon before becoming the dean of the hospital. They broke the hoofshake and the yellow mare gently cleared her throat before speaking in a soft voice.

“Nature Spark, young Star here has told me many things about you, one of them being that you have poor eyesight,” Suture explained. Spark nodded his head and the dean continued to speak. “She and I have come up with a solution to your problem. You see, I have a spell that I believe can fix your sight.”

“You believe it can, but what? It hasn’t ever been tested, has it?” Spark questioned dryly. This was beginning to become a theme; smart ponies wanting him and his friends to test new and possibly dangerous inventions. “Why hasn’t it ever been tested before?”

“It requires two unicorns to perform the spell. One on each eye at the exact same time, however I haven’t found anyone that could learn the spell well enough for me to trust them,” Suture replied. She looked at Star and smiled. “Until miss Discipula Star wound up in my hospital, that is. She is quite the talented student of magic, wouldn’t you agree?” The stallion nodded his head.

“Yes, she’s something else alright.” Spark scratched the back of his head and sighed, “Is it going to be dangerous?” He didn’t want to end up with worse sight, because then there wouldn’t be anyway he could make it to the hippogriffs, let alone all the way to the Crystal Empire.

“Like any magical augmentation there are inherent risks, but I am the best surgeon in Canterlot, maybe even Equestria and Star is very skilled with magic herself,” Suture stated assuredly. “It is up to you in the end, but wouldn’t you like to be able to see without worrying about glasses all of the time?” The yellow mare waited patiently for him to mull it over.
On one hoof, Spark’s vision was pretty bad, but he had more or less gotten used to it over the past few days. On the other hoof, the spell could be dangerous, but it also had the potential to fix his eyes permanently. The unicorn was pretty tired of buying new glasses all of the time, so he finally decided it was worth a shot.

“Okay, I’m in,” Spark told them. The mares were both very happy with his decision and it showed in their eyes.

“Great, Spark. I’m so glad that you trust me to do this and I promise it will be fine,” Star beamed as she practically jumped on his lap and hugged him. Spark had a passing feeling that he had made a mistake, but he took a deep breath and let the nervousness pass.

“Well then, Nature Spark, I will set up an operating room and we should have you fixed up and ready to head out in two hours tops,” Suture said. The older mare winked at him with a sly smile. “You can wait with Star while I prep everything.” Spark got the feeling that Suture thought he and Star were an item, which was a bit ridiculous, seeing as how they had very little in common, other than wanting to help the princesses. Spark had far too many things on his mind to pay it much more thought though.

“Come on. Let’s go let the others know what we are up to,” Star said. The smaller pony walked out the door of the office and Spark got to his hooves and followed her. “I bet that none of them expected this to be the surprise.” She giggled as she headed down the long hallway. Nope, they probably wouldn’t have guessed. Spark sure hadn’t. Their friends were already finished with breakfast when he and Star arrived at the room, but they had left some food out for the two of them.

“What took you guys so long?” Downpour asked when they walked in. He was relaxing in a chair with his forelegs wrapped around Strata, who was sitting in the same chair with him.

“Yeah, we thought that you two had gotten lost or something,” Strata chimed in. The hippogriff smiled at her own lame joke. Spark couldn’t help but notice that she was quite a bit friendlier now than she had been when they first met. She had been under stress then though, so maybe that was part of it, but Spark couldn’t help thinking his buddy Downpour was to thank for the mood change.

“We’re going to get Spark’s eyes fixed with magic!” Star exclaimed, giving a squee of delight as she told them. She was vey excited about the procedure. Probably the thrill of learning a rare spell, Spark imagined. “The dean of the hospital asked me to assist her in the procedure. It should be quite the experience.” The black mare stayed true to her title of faithful student.

“You’re going to fix his eyes with magic?” Draft asked, without any trace of enthusiasm in his voice. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? It sounds sort of questionable to me.” Star fixed the pegasus with an annoyed stare.

“You don’t trust my magical ability?” Star questioned him as she walked up to Draft with an indignant expression on her face.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that,” Inferno spoke up from beside her. The dragon looked over to Draft for some indication of whether or not she was right.

“It has nothing to do with your abilities. I just don’t know if it’s safe to mess around with unicorn magic, especially when the unicorns themselves don’t know exactly how it works,” Draft elaborated. Spark could see his point, though he liked to think he had a good grasp of how magic worked, but he had faith that Star wouldn’t attempt something that could badly damage him if she wasn’t sure she could manage it.

“Well, Spark has already agreed to let me augment his vision, so we will see who is right in a little while,” Star replied in the most cocky voice that Spark had ever heard coming from the short unicorn. She turned in a huff and walked out of the room with Inferno hot on her tail. Spark reminded himself not to question Star’s magic in the future, unless he wanted to cause problems.

“Anyway,” Spark sighed, attempting to alleviate the remaining tension in the room. “What have you three been up to since I left?”

“We ate some breakfast and spent the last twenty minutes talking about the trip,” Downpour replied. He seemed to be in a good mood, considering the stallion was going to be away from his new marefriend for weeks.

“He’s lying to you.” Draft rolled his eyes as he said it. “They spent the whole time after they fixed the harness, gushing about how much they were going to miss each other. It was kind of sad to watch actually,” Draft added. Downpour chucked a folded up cloak at his little brother, who ducked under it and stuck out his tongue in response.

“How adorable,” Spark snickered at their antics and then sat down to wait for the dean of the hospital to come to the room and get him.

“You can do this. You can do this. Everything will be fine.” Spark had been repeating the mantra in his head ever since the two mares had strapped him to the operating table and pinned open his eyelids, but had only begun to whisper it after they’d pinned his eyelids back. The dean had told him that he would have to be coherent for the procedure and needed to keep his eyes focused straight in front of him. The sigh challenged stallion had started to get worried, but was doing his best to keep calm.

“We’re going to place these gems in the holders above your eyes and focus our magic,” Suture explained in a doctoral voice. The yellow unicorn was walking him through the procedure before they started, hoping to ease his mind a little. “We will focus the magic into two beams of light that will pass through the enchanted jewels and into your eyes. The effect from the spell will correct your vision, if all goes well.” She put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him. “After we’re done you should have perfect vision in a few hours.”

“A few hours?” Spark asked with surprise. They hadn’t let him in on that important piece of information before hoof.

“Yes,” Star replied. “It will take that long for your eyes to adjust, so your vision will be blurry for a while afterwards.” Star gave him a reassuring look. “We’ll give you a pair of special glasses to wear. They will keep the bright lights from hurting your eyes until they recover from the magical exposure.”

“Okay, okay. Let’s just get this over with,” Spark groaned. He took a deep breath as the mares positioned themselves on opposite side of his head.

“Are you ready, Star?” Doctor Suture asked. The dean checked to see if the younger mare was prepared and received a nod in answer. “Okay, begin the spell.” The mares’ horns each glowed with magical power that focused at the very tips. Spark could only see them out of the corners of his eyes until they leaned forward. A split second later bright light flashed into the gems which focused the energy into tiny pinpoints that struck his retinas like a hot iron. It was a blinding sensation that caused everything else in the room to go out of focus as twin beams of energy lanced through.

“Woah!” Spark exclaimed. He could feel a strange tingling sensation in his skull that was unpleasant, but nothing that he couldn’t deal with.

“You’re doing well, Spark. Just a moment longer,” Suture assured him. He could hear the dean’s voice, but was lost in a sea of light. Suddenly there was a burning sensation in his head as the magic overloaded. Boom! Both of the gems shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. Spark was fortunate to avoid any shards piercing his eyes, but he was fairly certain that wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Oh Celestia, what happened?” Star screamed in surprise. The student’s former surety was gone now and Spark felt a dread overcome him. He should not have let them test the procedure on him. He had an important mission to complete and now they bucked it up, doing Celestia only knew what kind of damage.

“What did you do?” Spark asked in a cold tone. He couldn’t help but sound angry; they had toyed with his vision and now he couldn’t see anything but darkness.

“I-I don’t know, it was working fine and then…” Suture trailed off. The dean sounded like a foal who had been caught stealing from their parent. “I’m so sorry, Spark.” He felt her place glasses on his face, like they were going to help him now.

“Shit, what the hay am I going to do now?” Spark asked them angrily. He couldn’t help it, he was starting to lose his cool.

“It may have still worked, we won’t know for a few hours,” Suture explained. “You should stay here so that I can monitor your condition.”

“No,” Spark said flatly. He wasn’t going to take the dean’s advice. Blind or not, he wasn’t going to put off his responsibilities. “I have to leave today if I want to reach the Crystal Empire in time to make a difference.”

“Spark, be reasonable,” Star urged her friend. She sounded on the verge of tears, but Spark wasn’t in the mood to care. “It would be foalish to attempt to leave right now. What if something happened to you? I could never forgive myself.” The naïve mare didn’t seem to notice the irony of her statement, but Spark ignored that fact.

“I’m sorry, but I still have to do this. Unstrap me from the table so I can leave,” Spark replied. He struggled against the restraints until he felt them loosen. “I’ll send you a letter later to let you know if it worked or not,” the stallion added as got up from the table and felt his way to the door.

“At least let us help you get to the rest of your friends,” the doctor told him. Spark felt Suture’s gentle touch on his shoulder as she and Star led him out of the operating room and down the hall to their friends.

“We’re here,” Spark said as he walked into the room, feeling the gaze of his friends all around him.

“I’m so sorry,” Suture whispered from behind him. Spark heard the hoofsteps of the dean and then the opening and closing of the door as she left the room.

“What the hay did you do?” Draft’s voice held an accusatory tone as he directed the question in, what Spark assumed was, Star’s direction.

“I’m not sure. Everything was going smoothly, but the gems shattered and I-I-I’m so sorry,” Star apologized before she broke down and began to sob next to Spark. He reached out a hoof and felt around for the mare’s shoulder.

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” Spark consoled her. “I wanted to do this and besides, we still don’t know that it didn’t work.” The mare tried to stifle her crying, but wasn’t doing a very good job. “Its okay, Star, I know you did your best to help me.”

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Draft grumbled. He sounded angry still, but his brother effectively silenced him.

“Draft, shut the hay up for one Celestia damned minute,” Downpour barked at him. Spark could hear the stocky pegasus approach him from the left side. “When will you know if it worked?”

“It could be a few hours or so,” Spark told him. “I’m going to have Inferno send a letter when I know for sure.”

“Wait, you’re still leaving today?” Inferno asked. The dragon was beyond surprised to hear him say that. “Are you insane?”

“We’re a few hours late as it is. I’m not delaying this any longer. One way or another I am completing this quest,” Spark replied.

“You are one brave pony, Spark,” Strata chuckled and then she slapped Spark on the back and he nearly toppled over, onto his face. That hippogriff was even stronger than she appeared; no wonder Downpour liked her so much, Spark realized.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m afraid I can’t really help pack up though, so you five will have to do the dirty work for me,” Spark said, trying to change the subject.

“Don’t worry about it buddy, we got this,” Downpour assured him. Spark heard the sounds of bags rustling and the movement of his friends around him, but he couldn’t do anything to help. If he was truly blind, then the unicorn was going to have a very difficult time adjusting to being so helpless.

“Come on. Let’s get you to the chariot,” Inferno said as she put a clawed hand on his Spark’s side and led him out of the room to the flying chariot outside. The rest of his friends followed close behind them. “Strata was right, you really are one brave unicorn,” Inferno told him as they stepped into the evening air.

Loading everything hadn’t taken the group long and they were now at the gates of the city, or at least that what Spark’s friends had told him. He could feel the cold wind blowing through his mane and smell the scent of dead leaves in the air, but not being able to see was already driving him crazy. He was stuck like a foal in the back of the chariot, while his friends fussed over him. It was absolutely maddening.

“I’m fine everypony,” Spark groaned. “I just lost my vision. I’m not a little blank flank foal.”

“We’re all just worried about you, alright?” Star replied. She had managed to compose herself shortly after leaving the hospital, but still sounded one harsh word away from a breakdown, so Spark did his best to stifle his agitation.

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean to snap,” Spark apologized. He softened his tone as he spoke to the guilt ridden mare. “I’m just not used to being so helpless. It’s going to take some getting used to.”

“It’s okay,” Star replied. “I deserve it after what I did.”

“Please don’t be like that, Star. What happened was completely out of your power,” Spark told her. “I don’t want to leave with any hurt feeling between us. You’re my friend and I forgive the mistake.” He felt his friend’s forelegs wrap around him in a tight embrace.

“You’re too kind, Spark,” Star sighed. She let him go and resumed walking a second later.

“Alright, were out of the gates, so I guess this is where we say our goodbyes for now.” Downpour’s voice came from above Spark and he heard the winged stallion land nearby. “Spark, I want you to be safe.” Downpour lifted Spark’s hoof and bumped it against his own for him. “I know Strata will take good care of you and soon your vision will return, better than ever. You’ll be just fine.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I will,” Spark replied softly. “See you later, Downpour.” The pegasus chuckled nervously and then left to go say his goodbyes to Strata in private.

“Take care, Spark. Make sure to keep Star up to date on what’s going on,” Draft said with a smile, which was lost on Spark. “I think that mare will have a heart attack if she doesn’t hear from you and Inferno everyday.” The grey pegasus patted Spark on the shoulder and sat down beside him in the chariot.

“Don’t worry about me everypony. It will take more than being blinded to keep this unicorn down,” Spark replied. He gave his friends what he hoped was a nonchalant look and laughed. “I’ll see you all in a couple of weeks.” Everypony else said their last farewells to each other after that, Star and Inferno both crying as they did, and then proceeded to do a last minute check to make sure they were actually ready to depart. Star surprised Spark with a kiss on the cheek when no one was looking.

“Charm is a very lucky mare to have a somepony like you, Spark,” Star breathed softly into his ear. “I hope I can find a stallion as good as you someday.” Spark could feel the warmth of Star’s breath and he put a hoof to his cheek as she walked away from him. It almost sounded like she had been flirting with him, but Spark dismissed it as nothing and got comfortable in the chariot. Inferno sat down next to him a few minutes later.

“Are we ready to go?” the dragon asked. Her gravely voice still had a hint of sorrow in it from having to leave the mare she looked to as a mother.

“I don’t know,” Spark replied, “you tell me.” The unicorn smirked at her and she shoved him over playfully. “Hey now, don’t pick on the handicapped pony.”

“Alright everypony, let’s get going, before I rethink leaving my lady,” Downpour called out. The pegasus’s powerful wings blew air past Spark’s head as he lifted off the street and started to fly away. “See you later, hot stuff,” he called back to Strata.

“I’ll miss you, Downpour, and I will be eagerly waiting for the first night that we’re together again,” the hippogriff called back shamelessly. Spark facehoofed. Those two were too perfect for each other.

“I’ll see you ponies on the other side,” Draft said before departing like a lightning bolt after his brother.

“Take good care of my daughter, Spark, and you too, Strata. If anything happens to her I’m holding both of you responsible,” Star told them with a serious expression on her face, then the mare gave each of them another hug.

“No worries, mom. I’m in good hoofs,” Inferno grinned. Spark hoped that the little dragon was right, but he felt slightly unsure at the moment. Strata however, sounded sure enough for the both of them.

“We will protect her with our lives, Star, you can count on that,” Strata assured the motherly pony. It helped to put Spark’s mind at ease being able to rely on the hippogriff.

“I’ll write you when we stop for the night,” Spark added. He didn’t know how smooth their trip would go while he was blind, but tried to stay positive regardless. Thankfully it would be three more days before they were flying over the ocean, which gave the stallion plenty of time to practice his cloud walking spell before he needed it.

“I’ll be waiting for the letter,” Star replied. Without anymore words, Strata took off and the chariot was soon flying above the clouds, at least that’s what Inferno told Spark once she dared to take a peek around herself. At least he wasn’t the only blind one in the cart, Spark thought with a smirk.

The flight went smoothly, but was spent mostly in silence, as everypony was lost in their thoughts. Spark’s vision hadn’t returned by the time that they set up camp that night, so Inferno was the one who wrote the letter to Star. There wasn’t anything important or new to report, so it mostly consisted of Inferno writing about how much she hated flying and how much she would miss Star.

After sending off the letter via dragon fire, the three friends spent an hour or so talking, it was hard for the stallion to tell how long exactly, and then ate a small meal around the camp fire. They were all pretty beat after the excitement of the day and Spark wasn’t in much of a mood for conversation, so he stretched out on his blanket and let his mind drift away, as he was wan to do.

Spark thought long and hard about what Princess Celestia had told him of his father. He really hoped that he would learn the truth about who Oaken Field really was from the griffons, but also wondered whether or not he actually wanted to know. The unicorn wasn’t sure what he would do if he found out his father was actually Celestia’s personal assassin. Judging from the enchanted dagger, Libra, it sure seemed that way. These thoughts and more plagued the blind stallion’s mind as he fell into a restless sleep.

Author's Note:

You know what's funny, I didn't actually plan on having Spark go blind when I started writing this story. It just sort of happened that way, because these characters are f**king pushy and make me write most chapters as I go, instead of following any plans. Oh, and I have to say that I think this chapter has the best title out of them all, though I'm not sure why I feel that way.