14. Aftermath
Chapter 14 – Aftermath
Twilight Sparkle’s eye and ears began to twitch simultaneously. Her shoulders slumped, and her horn burned almost painfully as its glow subsided. It felt as if she was in complete shutdown following the casting of the spell. She was exhausted from the exertion and concentration, but there was a more important reason for her nervous twitch and physical dysfunction than mere exhaustion. She had failed to cast her spell correctly.
She stared forward, looking at her marefriend; Derpy stood statically, still facing Twilight with the blank look adorning her face. Derpy’s eyes had been intended to focus to the center, the pupils tugged toward a more normal alignment. Her stare, however, was literally blank – instead of the intended result, Twilight found herself looking directly into two featureless eyes, devoid of irises and pupils completely. She had not improved Derpy’s vision – she had erased it.
“Twilight? Did the room turn dark for some reason?”
Derpy tried to look around for her friend, but found only darkness, and the inky black confused her. It had been morning a moment ago, but now all she could see was black pitch. She reached forward in the darkness, expecting to not meet anything with her hoof; there was, as far as she could tell, nothing there. She gave a slight gasp of shock when she almost immediately touched Twilight’s breastbone, as the unicorn was still standing directly in front of her.
Twilight was only able to respond with incoherent and distraught mumbling, disconcerting the pegasus even more.
Twilight found a moment of clarity in her haze of thought and barked an order. “Spike! Go get all of our friends. NOW!” The dragon gave a start; sitting toward the side he did not know what had happened, but Twilight’s frantic tone and her twitching facial features did not bode well.
Without a single question, he bolted out of the library, embarking on the grimmest scavenger hunt he had ever had the displeasure of being involved in. Without thought, he went where his footsteps took him – toward Sweet Apple Acres in hopes that Applejack would be there with Rainbow Dash.
Twilight watched Spike’s receding form for a moment before turning back to Derpy. She owed the pegasus as much of an explanation as she could figure out, though at the moment that wasn’t much. She attempted to steady her voice but failed, the words coming out cracked and weak.
“Derpy, your eyes… I… something didn’t go right… I don’t know what happened… Your eyes, they’re still there, but they look… like I erased them.” Twilight broke down in tears.
Derpy stood there for a moment while comprehension took hold. She tried blinking, closing and opening her eyes slowly, rubbing at them with her hooves, and everything felt as though it was normal. She just could not see anything, and the horrifying realization finally took hold. Twilight’s magic had blinded her.
Her head swam for a moment, unable to grasp the torrent of emotions that cascaded through her mind. She was frightened by the blindness, dejected that the spell didn’t work, nervous of what the future would be like, and empathetic toward the unicorn who was so distraught by her own failure.
She took a deep breath in to attempt to clear her head and thought back to the previous night, and doing so gave her a sense of calm amid the chaos. She still firmly stood by her statement; she would not be frightened by the outcome. She had Twilight with her and that reassured her regardless of her sight. The spell had not worked, but that did not mean she was doomed forever. Twilight may come across another spell to help mend the previous one.
The future would come regardless of what she thought of it, and she had always been miserable up until this week. Meeting Twilight had given her hope for the future, and she still had that hope, with or without sight. Ultimately, Derpy decided that right now worrying or being afraid would change nothing. The one thing she could do was comfort her friend.
Twilight had collapsed in a heap, her mind reeling and tears flowing freely from her eyes for the damage she had done to her friend. She felt a hoof graze past her head before returning, then felt it slide from her head down to her shoulder. She looked up to see Derpy’s vacant eyes.
The mare’s coordination almost seemed clarified by the darkness; without the conflicting visual input she was able to pick out directions and sounds much more easily than before. The pegasus turned her head down to where the noises were coming from and sank to the floor, using her hooves to guide her towards Twilight’s neck and then pulling her into a hug.
Twilight was approaching hysteria, but the only way Derpy would be able to tell was through the sound of her voice. Twilight had become a nervous wreck of twitching and paranoid glances around the room. She threw herself into the calming forehooves being offered to her, and she sobbed into Derpy’s mane.
“I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry, Derpy. I don’t know what went wrong, I went over the spell so many times that I was sure I had it right…” Twilight made a choking sound through her cries as she was once again swept with guilt.
“Shh,” Derpy tried to calm Twilight down and gave her a loving smile, hoping Twilight had seen it. “It’s okay, Twi. Remember what I said last night? You’re more important to me than anything else. I’m not angry or hurt – I just want you to be okay, too.”
She gave the unicorn another tight squeeze, and another thought occurred to her that could be reassuring for them both.
“Remember what you said about the spell? It’s not supposed to be permanent right away… maybe the mistake was small enough that it only affected my sight temporarily. There may be no reason for concern at all right now. Maybe it will just go away on its own.” She felt Twilight shift at that, and the sounds of crying lessened slightly.
“We knew the risks, we’ll work through this together, and maybe we can find out what went wrong. Please, just don’t sit blaming yourself for this, okay?” She gave Twilight another smile, and heard the crying die down to strong sniffles.
Twilight couldn’t comprehend how Derpy was managing to stay so calm, but she was at least becoming a bit more composed by the pegasus’ reassurances, though her twitches still remained. She nodded into the mare’s mane, and hugged her back, both mares falling into silence broken only by the occasional sniffle still plaguing Twilight.
****************
Spike had been successful in finding Rainbow Dash and Applejack at the farm, and he was extremely relieved at that. They eyed him suspiciously as he raced toward them at breakneck speed, a grim yet frightened look painted on his face. He came to a halt in front of them, panting deeply from overexertion, but still trying to deliver his message. Instead, the only sound emanating from him was a ragged wheeze.
“What in tarnation’s got into ya Spike?” Applejack demanded, half out of concern and half out of frustration at the dragon’s panicked arrival. “Calm down a sec, get a holda yerself, ‘n then tell us what in Equestria gotcha so riled up.”
Spike’s wheezing lessened to a point where he was at least able to deliver the bare idea of the message between gasps. “Something happened at the library with Twilight and Derpy. I don’t know what happened, but Twilight was casting a spell, and next thing I knew she was twitching and panicking and yelling at me to come get all of you guys.”
AJ and Dash exchanged equally reproachful looks. Derpy. They didn’t know the details but they were sure they didn’t have to. Twilight was having a signature ‘Twilight Meltdown’, and it involved Derpy. That was all the information they needed – the pegasus screwed something up for Twilight, and screwed it up badly.
“AJ, you take Spike back to the library. I’ll go round everypony else up.” Rainbow Dash took to the air in a flash, and Spike let out a relieved sigh. That was a lot less work and frantic running he had to do.
He felt a yank as Applejack grabbed him and flipped him onto her back before she sprinted off toward the towering tree.
As Spike clung to her tightly to keep from falling off, one thought played through the farmpony’s mind. If Derpy got Twi hurt, so help me Celestia, she ain’t gonna be flyin’ fer months after Ah’m done with ‘er.
The tree loomed into view, and as they got closer Applejack could distinctly hear the sound of Twilight’s crying, though much less intense now in volume and frequency, coming from inside. Her face flushed with rage, crimson burning her cheeks, and her mind spoke to her body with full wrath.
Whoa Nelly! She is gonna be gettin’ her flank whooped somethin’ fierce.
****************
Twilight was finally calming down, much to Derpy’s relief, and the quiet that had fallen was welcome. The unicorn had begun to think about the reassurances that Derpy had given her, and though she still felt incredible guilt she knew that Derpy was not upset with either her or the situation in general.
She was still impressed by the way the pegasus had adapted to dealing with pain, shame, and disappointment. Derpy had been through so much in her life that, since Twilight had given her acceptance, nothing seemed to bother her aside from her own lingering insecurities.
She hugged the pegasus tightly as her mind began racing; moments before she had been in complete mental turmoil, but now Derpy had given her enough peace of mind that the only thing left of her breakdown were residual tears and sniffs. Within her thoughts, however, she was already reverting to her tendency to analyze.
Twilight was quite certain that Derpy was right about the effect of the spell. They couldn’t be absolutely sure, but it was very likely that the effect would be only temporary given that the nature of the spell required constant repetition even if it had been cast perfectly.
It only made sense that a mistake would result in a different physiological change rather than a change in the spell’s duration, since bodily change was the focus of the magic. She had already resolved to check and recheck what had gone wrong as soon as their immediate emotional reactions had soothed.
Her thoughts were interrupted sharply though, as the door behind Derpy swung open violently, revealing a much redder version of Applejack than she was used to, with Spike sitting on her back. Twilight saw the mare look at her, concern showing in her face before an intense fire ignited in her eyes.
She quickly saw what was going through Applejack’s mind. Twilight was disheveled, crumpled on the floor with tearstained cheeks, and the farmpony had already come to a conclusion about what the problem must have been. Her insight was proven almost instantly as the mare’s gaze locked onto the back of the pegasus in Twilights hooves.
“Derpy, what in Celestia’s name did you do to Twi?” Applejack demanded, a ferocity in her voice that could easily give anypony nightmares for weeks. “You promised us you weren’t gonna get her hurt at –“
Applejack’s tirade halted abruptly as Derpy turned to the sound behind her, freezing the farmpony’s blood at the sight. She stared directly into the blank eyes adorning the forlorn face of the pegasus. Her mouth dropped open in shock, and all the anger coloring her face drained from vermilion to pale orange.
Applejack’s voice dropped from a bellow to an almost inaudible whisper. “Girl, what in the hay happened in here?”
Derpy couldn’t see the changes that came over Applejack, but she could hear the change in voice. It relieved her to know that Applejack had dropped her accusatory perception and was now open to listening. Her response was gentle but remorseful.
“Twilight was working on a spell to help mend my vision, but it didn’t quite go as well as we hoped.” She gave a small sigh. “I’m sorry, Applejack. I know I promised not to hurt Twilight. I guess I couldn’t keep my promise after all.”
Derpy closed her eyes in regret and turned back to lay her head on Twilight’s shoulder, giving the unicorn another squeeze, though this hug was meant more as apology than a comfort.
Applejack winced at the sadness in the pegasus’ voice, and she felt awful to know that her outburst had likely contributed to making the situation worse. She felt Spike hop off her back as she slowly walked into the room and up to Derpy. Tentatively, she placed a hoof on the mare’s shoulder and her stomach tied into a knot when the pegasus instinctively flinched, as though she was expecting a punishment of some sort.
“No, Derpy, Ah’m the one that’s sorry. Ah assumed ya messed somethin’ up when Ah shouldn’t have, an’ Ah can tell it ain’t yer fault. If anythin’ was outta line in here, it was me for blamin’ ya without any idea what happened.” Her head drooped a little out of shame for her hasty actions. She turned to look at Twilight, who sat stunned at the conversation between her longtime friend and her marefriend.
“You doin’ okay, Sugarcube?” Applejack looked to in her in hope that Twilight had not taken the accident too harshly, or that the unicorn resented her brash behavior. She looked relieved as Twilight nodded back slightly.
“I’m okay, AJ,” she replied quietly. “I just got a bit… emotional, for a while. I think I’m feeling better now. Derpy helped me calm down and collect my thoughts. It still seems a bit surreal, but I think we’ll be alright.”
Twilight turned to Spike. “Are the others on their way? I thought you were going to get everypony.”
Spike gave a slight nod. “Rainbow Dash was with Applejack when I got there. She went to round up everypony else. I’ll bet they’re on their way now.”
Applejack’s eyes went wide at this thought, and she quickly turned toward the door. “Ah’m gonna go out and see if Ah can explain what’s goin’ on to them before they all get in here.”
She reddened a bit again, slightly ashamed to admit this in front of Derpy. “Ah’d wager that Dash is gonna be thinkin’ just like Ah was when Ah got here. Ah reckon y’all need some time together alone after all of this.” She nudged Spike to emphasize ‘alone’; he got the hint and followed her to the door.
“Thanks, Applejack.” Twilight smiled weakly at her. “I think that’s exactly what we need right now.”
As the door closed behind the farmpony, she returned her muzzle to Derpy and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Thank you, Derpy. I promise I’ll make this right again – just give me some time.”
Derpy gave her a kiss back, nuzzling at her ear. “I know you will. I still trust you just as much as ever.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much. I love you, Derpy.”
“Love you too, Twi.”
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GODDAMN IT!!!!!
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/446/443/026.gif
Well shit.
1773939>>1773957>>1774041 I'm just curious on the feedback - is it in response to the chapter being bad, or not what you wanted, or did you like it as is? Guess I'm just not clear if the frustration is because of the story or reactions for the characters... if that makes sense.
Regardless thanks for the responses, I just hope it didn't let you down or anything. 
1774065
I'm angry at what happened to Derpy.
1774077 Thanks for the clarification - at original concept I thought that's what I wanted, but it just seemed too... trite. Problem solved first try, and everyone lived happily ever after... just didn't seem to fit.
1774086 She does just seem to get trodden on a lot, I'll give you that.
I guess she's the 'tragic heroine', but there's always hope for our winged friend. 
OMG!....I just...wow.
That's just...
Really great story but still...
This made my night. I was pretty glad when Derpy's eyes didn't get fixed.
I mean, I don't hate Derpy, and I do want them to be fixed, but I like how you brought tragedy before happiness.
Most authors I know don't take that step, and make their stories shorter than they could be.
Pretty impressive for a weekends worth of work IMO. Ya still got me glued to the story even without the cliffhanger hahaha.
Well, Applejack certainly deflated kinda quick. Too bad somepony nice and stupid
will have it in her empty head that it's somepony else's fault 
that the spell got cast wrong. 
As for the chapter itself, we need a word for really good but really sad.
The process you used for this story, almost certainly ripped a few emotions out of me. I'm of course insinuating that the story, really brought a tear to my eye after the process of the spell failing. Truly a gut wrenching moment. I do like how you showed how someone who has been blinded reacts to the feel of another person/pony touching them then skittishly jump. I am like that a good 98% of the time, and it doesn't contain itself to just foreign feelings, loud noises, pretty much anything scares me.
Anyway, your story truly has the emotional feeling other shipping fics lack, I commend you honourably for unlocking your imaginative potential in this story. I look forward to the next chapter, good day Remedy.
Dang it! I wanted that spell to work properly
Stop making me have feels
.....
poor derpy..................
its so sad!!!!!!!
Great chapter, it didn't go in the direction I thought either. I was hoping it didn't go as planned because it'd be boring otherwise, but I was figuring Twilight would get it right the first time around, but the 2nd or 3rd she would have a partial failure that took Derpy's vision temporarily/permanently.
Either way, you have a ton of ways you can branch the story, and I'm glad you didn't just pull a "Now her problem is solved, and they lived happily ever after". Her affliction may be a negative thing, but it's a part of who she is. When I had Lasik done on my eyes, nothing went perfectly smooth. I have slight haloing at night, and one of my eyes still has a little astigmatism left, but I am 20/15 vision. I knew what was at risk and I was willing to take the risk. Derpy may have been given the short end of the stick, but she's still Derpy, and I hope to read about how she copes with the situation with the help of Twilight.
I was so happy when I saw this chapter that I shall time-line my reactions first I was "Yay!!!" but then I was "aww ;A;" then when spike left I was "don't let dash get there first '0'" then at the end I was all like "D'awww"
My room is now overloaded with "D'aww!" 's
1880926 omfg! lol.
1880926 This. So much this. Twilight deserves a kick to the face that breaks her muzzle.
Mah feels!!!!!!
Of course the title doesn't give away enough to spoil the chapter. I kinda hoped it would (despite finishing chapter 10 not fifteen seconds ago) but "Aftermath" is vague enough to succeed. And you started it off with Twilight's half of the spell and how she felt during it; you tease!
Oh...worse than that...Derpy's blind! I feel a pit in the area between my stomach and heart as I read this. Poor Derpy...poor Twilight!
Hmm...I re-read the paragraph about Derpy's eyes going blank and I'm a little less worried; the vanishing of irises and pupils is beyond normality, so perhaps magic can still fix this issue. It isn't simple blindness, it's something...more. Or less. Its more or less...more or less.
But damn...blind...I'm curious why Twilght wants all of her friends there and I'm hoping it involves the deus ex fix'em'up of the Elements of Harmony. Perhaps Celestia herself could lend some magical aide.
Derpy's attitude is very touching; she's keeping calm despite losing her sight and determined to comfort Twilight. Most anypony else (myself included) would be freaking out and if not despairing, be angry at Twilight for what happened. Derpy is truly a pony to be revered.
Hahaha, I find it deliciously ironic that Spike's half-explanation is going to end up getting the other five of the mane six showing up at the Library ready to skin Derpy alive. But the lapse in judgement will be a good catalyst for them to get over their predispositions towards Derpy and come to realize that she's not as much trouble as they make her out to be. Hopefully.
And, again, Derpy pulls the blame to herself. Despite that blame being aimed at her anyway. Its sweet, its beautiful, and its going to make Applejack love her as a friend even faster.
Ending the chapter with a pair of "I Love You"s. I like it, and I can't wait to see what the other four do when they show up. Dash and Rarity, I think, will have the most AJ-like reactions. Fluttershy will be more worried about Twilight than upset about Derpy. Pinkie Pie....pfff, heck if I can predict Pinkie Pie.
Although I already liked your depiction of Derpy, because you were using the more intelligent incarnation rather than brain-sporked (The depiction of Derpy in the YouTube series "Dr. Whooves and Assistant" is my favorite, and this is close to that.), this chapter made me like your Derpy much more than I did before. And I already totally loved her.
Anyway, she's incredible. If somepony had blinded me, that somepony would die. Special somepony or no. I find Derpy's reaction to all of this on that sweet spot just between saintlike and unrealistic. She is so totally zen. Far more than anyone has a right to expect of her, and yet it still retains it's believability.
She is basically the complete opposite of "Annoyingly over-reactive for the sake of relationship turmoil" I always felt that characters overreacting to the smallest of things and becoming dis-proportionally/unjustifiably angry was a cheap, cheap way of introducing romantic conflict. But this turns that on it's head....a situation where Derpy should be telling Twilight she hates her and never wants to see her again, but instead being so incredibly understanding and optimistic.
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The feels are strong in this one.
1774065
Yup, that was about my reaction too, shock and.. frustration? I guess that's a good word.. at were it went, just... damn. It's not many stories that evoke such strong feels within me, you did good.
I think the feedback here is too harsh one Twilight. Yes, she made a mistake, but had only the best of intentions, and a lifetime of good should not be undone by one mistake.
Although apparently a lifetime of evil can be undone by...a few slightly less evil acts (CoughcoughDISCORDcoughcough)
3965043 I think only Fluttershy is truly convinced of Discord's reform. Everypony else, including Celestia, is obviously still suspicious. My headcanon is Discord is playing along and waiting for the ideal moment to strike back at Equestria and take control once again.
No irises or pupils, so does that mean it's just whites? That would have been scary to see. Really hoping it's not permanent
2292078 i think you left a pun in your comment
4293246 I feel like Discord truly reformed after Tirek’s incident I could see it he realised what he had gained and how foolish he was for throwing it away so easily.
8218883
Not to mention how easily he was tricked; the feeling of being betrayed yourself after betraying everypony has got to be one of the worst feelings ever. Especially since he seemed to have lost heart in helping Tirek partway through; he didn't tell the centaur about the magical surge he felt, and seemed kind of down too before that - it's like he only continued aiding Tirek because he had already thrown his metaphorical hat in with him, and couldn't exactly stop.
4293246
And they forever will be. Some things cannot be taken back. You learn to forgive, of course - but you never, ever forget. The moment something bad happens, everyone will default to 'Discord' at first, if it fits his MO even slightly (and, in case of RD, even if not I'd wager).
That's what you get for being a reformed villain. It's something you learn to live with and take in stride... and sometimes, just sometimes, let it out when with a friend. I mean, Discord probably deserves all he got and then some, but... We all do stupid shit - the point of wisdom is to recognise it and stop doing it once you do.
Still. Forgive, but never forget.
9765716
That's another thing you learn on your way to becoming wise. This is a "sunk cost" fallacy, actually - you think to yourself "I've gone this far, invested this much - it makes more sense to see it through to the end than it does to abort." - but, as it turns out, you actually can see a trainwreck in the making with repeatable accuracy, and it makes more sense to actually bail, so that you can stop bleeding resources into what will obviously never become profitable.
And yes - trust and good will are both resources. Very, very precious resources.