Beyond Blind Eyes

by Lunaric

Welcome back

Author's Note:

Once again, sorry it's late. Tried to make it larger as compensation and we broke 1k words on a single chapter!

But anyway, Happy Halloween, y'all! Your day and night had best been and will be good. This is a threat.

Cotton looked down at her brace-covered hoof. It had hurt for a while, but now it was little more than a dull twinge when she pushed too hard with it. It was rather unfortunate that she almost crashed into somepony. Cotton was aware that she was rather durable in comparison to other pegasi, so she was glad she was the only one who got hurt.

Cotton was flying to the orphanage from her house in the middle-quarter of Canterlot. Bored with her flight, she thought back to the blind filly at her destination. Wonder how she's doing. She has such weird ponyisms and seems so mature despite her age. I wish we knew where she's from or how we could help her but, no matter how much anyone has asked, she hasn't said anything about it. Other than a simple 'I don't want to talk about it,' we're at a loss, here. I just hope she's doing okay... I got to remember to ask her about her magic practice. Given that she, despite being a unicorn, hasn't had exposure to magic at all. It makes sense that she's taken to it like a fish to water. It's concerning, but great she's found something she loves already. A smile blossomed on Cotton's face. I can tell she's going to be an amazing mage despite her late start.

Touching down in front of The Royal Orphanage, Cotton shuffled off the little snow that had accumulated during her flight. Pushing through the front doors, she could see the orphanage was as active as usual. Being snowy today, it was bound to be at least this active. She took off her scarf and hung it up after wiping her hooves on the mat. She approached the front desk to sign in before she was stopped with a hoof on her back.

Turning, Cotton saw a yellow hoof, and in turn, who it was attached to. "Oh! Hello, Sunny! How're you doing?" Both smiled.

"I'm doing good, myself, thank you for asking. I wanted to welcome you back after your injury." Nodding with concern towards cotton's hoof, "How is it doing?"

"It's doing better, an occasional twinge, but otherwise fine. Thanks for asking. I know I wasn't supposed to come back until tomorrow, but I just couldn't stand doing nothing at home. I get antsy easily."

Sunny shuffled her wings. "You aren't the only one. Most pegasi cannot sit around much."

"Yup! And so, here I am." Cotton's eyes shot wide open. "Oh shoot! I'll be right back, I almost forgot to sign in!" Leaving Sunny to chuckle to herself, she half-trotted-half-ran to the reception desk. Cotton looked for the clipboard. She found it on the wall to the right of the desk. Only after signing in did she breathe a deep sigh of relief. I know I can't exactly be late nor am I even supposed to be back yet, I'd still prefer to be early every time.

Turning to leave, Cotton was interrupted once more. The Golden mare at the desk spoke up, "Oh just a heads up Cotton, The blind filly decided on a temporary name. Sunny talked to her about it and got her to decide on one." She was smiling.

"Really?"

"I know, right? Surprising isn't it?"

"Yup, it is. So, what is the name she picked?"

"Aqua. Personally, I think it fits her. Both in looks, and how she's able to simply flow through any conversation. It's kinda weird how little she gets flustered."

"Yeah, she's a special one. Anyway, have a good one, Golden."

"You too, Cotton. Happy to have you back."

"Thanks! You to-!" Cotton sheepishly cut herself off with a blush as Golden giggled. Turning around a bit faster than needed, Cotton trotted back to Sunny.

Eventually slowing down to a much more sedate pace, she looked around at all the fillies and colts. They seem to be all doing just fine. She thought with a smile. Upon getting back to Sunny, Cotton started, "Sorry for that, Sunny. Also, I heard from Golden that you talked to the filly?" Cotton prodded with a smile.

"You caught me. It is true. upon hearing of her situation, I wanted to help. I asked her name, and when I found she didn't have one, I simply asked what she would like to use as a temporary name to avoid confusion. She went with Aqua as her name. After that, I helped her along with some of her magic. She... is a unique one. I quite like her."

Cotton tilted her head. "You helped her with her magic? How so?"

"I helped her along. She's intuitive with how she casts and despite being blind, she has little trouble visualizing that which is around her. It's why she can already levitate something and not have it hit her. I look forward to what she will achieve."

"Wait, she can levitate already? That's great!" Smiling, Cotton continued, "But I meant more how did you help her? With both of us being pegasi, it doesn't exactly come naturally."

"Ah. In my younger years, I had helped my sister, who was a unicorn, learn how to control her own magic. We both worked through it together and it feels almost second nature to me. Since then, I've tutored a few fillies and colts." She clarified.

How old is Sunny? She looks as young as me. "Oh... That makes sense. You have quite a bit of an advantage over me in that department. I'm just a normal pegasus."

"I'm certain she doesn't think of myself as a replacement for you. You were with her from the beginning of her stay here..." Sunny looked towards a familiar corner. Following her gaze, Cotton saw Aqua mediating with two balls floating in a circle in front of her. "She likes you, you know. She asked about how you were doing numerous times. She'll be glad to see you back." Turning back, she saw Sunny was looking at her with a motherly smile. Cotton smiled back.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

How exactly does that work?

[Lunaric]

11034416
How does what work?

[Teraunce]

Yup. Sunny be Celestia.

[Flaxseed]

Sunny... Darling... No.

You just pulled an "I see" meme! She won't be glad to SEE that Cotton is back...