Beyond Blind Eyes

by Lunaric

The One Left for Us

Bop... Bop... Bop...

Sunny's ears perked up. She had been surveying the orphanage for any foals in need of help. Helping a pegasus foal by the name of Rainbow Crayon draw a large mountain. Helping an Earth Pony filly by the name of Rough Thud find her lost toy block. Helping a unicorn filly by the name of Sharp Taste solve a puzzle. She had been looking for another foal in need.

Turning towards the sound, Sunny spotted a cyan and white unicorn filly lighting tapping a ball from one forehoof to the other and back. Annoyance was clearly written on the filly's face as she slowly bobbed her head back and forth. Aqua... What is the matter..? With a new target in mind, Sunny trotted over to the filly.

The filly's ears perked up and turned towards Sunny. As she continued to approach, the bobbing of the filly's head also came to a slow stop.

As Sunny got close, Aqua titled her own head and called out in her direction. "Uh... Solid? That you?"

Sunny giggled.

"Ah." Aqua put on a scowl, "You." Before flipping to a small smile and giggling, "Just kidding. Hey, Sunny! How're ya doing?"

"I am doing excellent. How are you feeling?" Sunny pointed to the filly's side, "And if you don't mind, may I sit here?"

"Oh yeah, no problem. It's fun talking to ya. And good to hear... I'm... not so good, I guess."

Taking a seat on the right of Aqua, Sunny questioned, "Oh? How come? What is eating at you so?"

Rubbing a hoof against the other, Aqua looked down, "I'm just really fuckin' tired of all this magic stuff... I don't hate the magic, but just how tedious this is becoming."

"What exactly is happening, young one?"

"The doctor isn't sure yet. Something something magical overload I think." Aqua tilted her head and squinted. "I think the phrase he used was external outburst?"

An external outburst? Very rare... Covering her mouth, Sunny responded, "Oh my. If you don't mind me prodding, what caused the incident?"

"Oh, Raven, I'm pretty certain I've mentioned her to you before. She's my tutor. So, Raven was trying to teach me a spell that essentially allowed you to sense the presence of magic in a very small area or something. I asked her to teach it to me after I heard about it from the last doctor's appointment." Aqua pointed at her eyes with a forehoof, "Y'know, any way to see and all that. Anyway, It didn't exactly go right and I think I blacked out for... a minute or two?" Aqua threw up both forelegs. "Essentially, It was just a precaution to not cast any magic, to make sure everything was okay for a day or two. Did my time and waited, bored as fuck. Time was up and I cast again, though it felt like I had to re-learn how to use my own horn. It was really, really weird. Then we went to the doctor's on..." Aqua hesitated for a second, "Grass day and he told me to essentially avoid casting as much as possible till we meet again next Grass Day. It's just annoying, having to wait."

I would like to look at your horn, but I shall wait. "I understand your frustrations, Litte one. I too have something I have been waiting on for a long time."

"Not to cut you off, but your long time is probably a lot longer than my long time."

"More and more you show your maturity... It makes me curious as to what you've endured."

Aqua looks away and waves a hoof dismissively. "Eh not that much, honestly. The usual plus the obvious... Well, I guess also the chance to learn magic fairly late, I'd imagine. I guess I just got unlucky."

"Still. You deem it as long, and so it is."

"Yeah... I just gotta wait through it..." Aqua let the conversation die as the two of them sat together.

Deciding to voice a question, Sunny started, "If I may ask, why did you think it was Solid Phalanx approaching you?"

Aqua put a hoof to her chin as her eyebrows furrowed. "Hm... I think it's your steps. Like with your shape, I think. I haven't exactly seen you. Only felt..." Aqua sat up straight. "Wow, that feels weird to say. You have a more slender build from what I've gathered you got the whole sleek and graceful thing down like I'd imagine most that have your body type would. But like... Sorry, it's really hard to explain. But like you've got a weight behind your steps?" Scoffing before continuing, "It feels like you hide a strength or something, I-I don't know..."

Sunny raised her eyebrows. Astute. "I'm surprised you could guess so well. In my heyday, I was quite strong compared to those around me. I even had a few suitors who were particularly fond of that fact..." Sunny looked up and to the side. Ah... Stalwart Gem, you were a unique knight.

Aqua grinned. "Ah, a pretty one, eh? Or are you ugly and just really strong? Not that I can really tell anymore..." The sides of her grin twitched downwards. "But hey, maybe now I'm forced to focus on the real thing:" Aqua winked and giggled, "Personality."

Raising a hoof to cover her smile, Sunny tried to hide her laughter, even as her chest and wings shuddered lightly.

"Ey. I can hear your laughter. I know it was a bad joke. Eh, at least it was funny."

"Indeed it was, little Aqua."

"Hey, maybe I could get a career as a comedian. With all of my," Suddenly deeper voice, "one," normal again, "jokes I should be just fine."

Sunny snorted and shook her head. "Perhaps. Perhaps it is best if the world is not doomed to laughing for eternity."

"Bah, you're right. The world couldn't handle all this..." Aqua gestured at her chest with both forelegs before scrunching her nose and leaning backwards. "Wow, that's... I never thought I would actually repeat that."

"I understand that feeling, little one. Many things come and go, but never does it change."

"Yup. That's just how it is."

Always surprises me. A silence developed before Sunny broke it. "I feel a need to point it out: your mane and tail are getting quite long..."

"Oh yeah. I actually completely forgot about that. Eh, I think I might want to just grow it out, anyways." Aqua grabbed her tail and wrapped it around her right side, nearly reaching around to her front as she hugged it.

Sunny grinned. So cute.

"It's so fluffy like this. I love it. Here, feel." Aqua held out her tail in her hooves.

Sunny reached out and lightly brushed it with her left forehoof. "You're right. It is quite fluffy! Just do not forget to take care of it. I've seen mares with their tail longer than they are." Sunny tilted her head to the left. "Sometimes they take care of it..." Then to the right. "..."

"And sometimes they don't." Aqua finished with a grin.

Giggling. "Correct."

"Don't worry, Sunny. I'll forget, so it's all good."

"Oh, you'll forget will you now?" Looking to the side, Sunny spotted a brush on a shelf a few paces away. Standing up for a brief moment to grab it, she brought it over. Looking back at Aqua, now armed with a brush, Sunny continues with a large grin, "I believe this is something I can fix with some focused effort."

"Oh, uh..." One of Aqua's ears perked up as she faced away from Sunny. "I think I can hear one of the other kids needs help..."

"There are other volunteers. They shall deal with it."

Aqua visibly slumped as her ears flattened. "Aw, damn. I thought that would work..."

With the brush raised, Sunny grabbed Aqua's tail. "You shan't get away from your fate, little Aqua."

"... Poop."

Author's Note:

Well, that was a longer one. I can say for certain I know the kind of chapter I prefer to write. Ones like this, where the characters can have a natural conversation with no direct objective. It simply flows. Maybe I need more experience with writing objective-based chapters or stories. Maybe I'm too casual for them. Who knows. Either way, enjoy.

I meant to finish this one on Friday, but I got sick. As it turns out if you have a minor sickness, a good way to speedrun it is to sit in front of an average heater permanently on high for ~12 hours and then you feel mostly better.

Edit: Apparently I was sick enough to forget that Sunny was a pegasus and accidentally wrote her as a unicorn in this chapter... I might need to get a lot of sleep...

Comments

[Nadus]

Always a pleasure to read a new chapter.

[Abysmal Angel]

This work is really interesting, and I love your style.

[StarzGecko]

Wait… wasn’t Sunny a Pegasus or did I forget she was a unicorn this whole time?

[Status L]

11522443
Yes but sunny is a pegacorn now.

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

11522418
Well, my secret to have fun reading academics documents is to find a subject I don't know much about or I know too much about find a random pdf and see the presentation of the document, If it's good start reading. Then If what you read sounds interesting keep at it or find another pdf of the same subject. min-max 3-10 tries before finding another subject to read about. Sometimes I will find words I don't understand, I then just research them on the spot and continue.

At the end I will have a paper filled with notes that will join my random knowledge binder with a link at the end of the source.

This doesn't sound like much but it's what work best for me.

[StarzGecko]

11522467
One hoof closer to becoming an Alicorn.

[Lord_01010000]

Look at Aqua here, wooing all the mares

[Fireeaters]

nice chapter

[Lunaric]

11522443

I edited the chapter and the author's notes to say that I mentally blanked out super hard and accidentally wrote her as a unicorn instead of a pegasus. I really need to proof-check my chapters more in depth.

Sorry, yall.

[Lunaric]

11522422

Glad to hear it. Despite my lack of an upload schedule, I also enjoy it.

[Lunaric]

11522434

Thank you. I feel like I don't have a style yet, but I honestly can't say that looking from an outsider's perspective... I suppose it'll become more natural in time.

[Lunaric]

11522467

My bad, I wrote it wrong.
Fixed it.

lmao

[Lunaric]

11522534

Okay, I take back what I said, that actually does sound kind of fun, but I don't think I could find it entertaining for terribly long. Still, that's impressive.

[Lunaric]

11522600

If only...

[Lunaric]

11522646

A child ruling the world... What a mental image. I'd look forward to it, at least.

[Lunaric]

11522786

Thanks, homie.

[mustangdrew4]

I find it interesting that they haven't made a stink about Aqua's...vocabulary choices. Makes me wonder how much they know about Aqua.

Also I love the dynamic Aqua has with the other characters. It's like she has a slightly different approach to how she engages with each. Makes it really fun to read.

[Vaguely Demented]

Sleep deprivation builds character. Also lowers immune systems but that not relevant to the conversation at hand.

[Lunaric]

11523297

Cotton has chided Aqua here and there on stronger language, though there are some things that are weird.

In terms of what everyone knows, only further character interactions will tell.

And thanks! I'm probably starting to sound akin to a broken record, but I'm trying to really lean into realistic character interactions. Most people don't talk to friends and their parents in the same way. I'm also trying to focus a lot on making dialogue itself describe what's happening outside of dialogue, then adding actually description to reinforce the situations at hand. Glad to hear I'm doing good with it.

[Lunaric]

11524214

Pshh. Thousands of side effects? Nahhhhh. Never heard of 'em.